


Ragnarok

by Omorocca



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2018-01-07 23:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omorocca/pseuds/Omorocca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started with a severe need for me to go see Thor II and never finding the time. So I said "Screw it; I'll write a fic instead!" It's mostly inspired on the film versions of Thor and The Avengers, since Marvel can be really hard to follow (origin stories, expanded universes, alternate universes, etc.) but I also had to improvise with the main villain (not Loki, the other creepy dude who appears in part 2) since IMDB gave me little to no information on who he really was and I didn't remember reading about him. Some said he was Thanos, some said he wasn't and since he never did anything in the films, I could easily do what I wanted with him without destroying the canon.</p><p>I hope you like it. It's mostly focused on Thor and Loki's complicated brotherhood. The other Avengers all have moments of glory too, and some subtle Hawkeye/Black Widow flirting. One important original character, a badass agent, named Martens.</p><p>KNEEEEEL-- Uh, I mean, enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Calm

**Author's Note:**

> I made a silly reference to Star Trek and two to Stargate Sg-1... can you find them?
> 
> Yes, I love silly jokes.

“Ragnarok”

 

‘A Thor/Avengers’ fanfiction

By Virginie Brouillette (Omorocca)

The whole gang belongs to Marvel, except agent Martens who's mine

 

Prologue

 

_Asgard_

 

In the throne room of the palace, Odin Allfather, the King of the Asgardians, a living god to the Norse people of Earth, sat down in pain. Stress had been horrible on him and he truly felt like he had nothing left. If they didn’t find a solution to this new dilemma soon, he may not last the week. The Sleep would claim him and, maybe this time, he would not waken.

 

By his side, his wife Frigga, stayed silent. All these long years spent helping him, supporting him, trusting him no matter what her own feelings were, were talking their toll. She too was exhausted.

 

“They’re coming, Odin said. And we are not prepared for their attack. We know not their plans, nothing of their goal. We are blind, waiting for an attack with no way of knowing how to stop it. This is exactly what they want. We couldn’t be more vulnerable.”

“Perhaps not, Father”, a voice said.

 

Thor, eldest son of Odin, heir to the throne, entered the room.

 

“We may have a way to find what their strategy is. I fought them before, on Midgard. I have seen them in action and can recognise their manoeuvres.”

“This is not the same, my son”, Frigga said.

“ _He_ is not with them, this time, Odin added. You know how _he_ operates; they do not act in the same fashion.”

“Then, I’ll go see him and ask for his help”, Thor decided.

“I forbid it!”

“He knows them better than any of us does, Father. I believe he is the one who has spread the rumour of their attack. He could help save us.”

“He has betrayed our trust before, never again!”

“ _He is also your son!_ ”

 

There was an uncomfortable silence. Thor had struck a nerve with his father; spoken the unspeakable. Should he leave it at that now that he had opened _that_ door? Should he go farther? He chose to say one more thing… a thing he would later regret, because the conversation escalated.

 

“ _I_ haven’t forgotten him.”

“How dare you?”

“And I will seek out his help. I will not risk losing this war just because you won’t forgive your son.”

“I will not stand for this!”

“Odin, please, Frigga insisted, let him speak.”

“Have you not realised, Thor continued, that you too need to be forgiven? You have hurt him; that is why he felt like he had the right to hurt us in return.”

“… what? How could you believe such a thing?”

“Because I know how it feels to be abandoned.”

 

There! He had pushed it to the limit. The hit would reopen his father’s old wounds. He would have to soften the pain now.

 

“I forgave you, Father. I learned from my mistakes; he has not. He wasn’t as lucky as I was. He didn’t have the support of friends that I had. He is all alone. If I really grew out of this and I refuse to help my _brother_ do the same, I have truly learned nothing.”

 

Odin was defeated. His son was right, he knew it. Thor’s banishment had been a test; a test to prove he was worthy of becoming his heir; a test he had passed brilliantly. Now was the time for the future king to use what he had learned to help his brother do the right thing. As difficult as this task was, Thor couldn’t allow himself to give up.

 

“Very well… go to him”, Odin conceded.

“It would do a lot better if you came with…”

 

But the king shook his head. He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to forgive… and much less ready to be forgiven. Not by him.

 

Thor left the room, keeping the door opened behind him, just in case. His parents watched him go, without a word.

 

“I hope I made the right decision”, Odin said.

“You always do…” his wife began, but there was doubt in her voice.

“I always do… except when that concerns _him_.”

 

Frigga smiled. Finally, he admitted it. Maybe her hope to make her family whole again wasn’t so foolish, after all.

 

“Thor will convince him, do not worry. Of us all, he’s the one who knows him the best. They have been through so much together, he will understand him.”

“You visited him a few times, Odin changed the subject. How often did Thor go to… see him in his cell since they have returned?”

 

She paused, before answering with a smile.

 

“Every single day.”

 

Odin sighed, half-relieved, ready to hope again. After all, his wife and his son both thought they could help his younger son return from that place where he had lost himself. He was taken out of his thoughts when Thor returned to the throne room, a concerned look on his face.

 

“Loki is gone! He’s escaped.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Part I: The Calm

 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters_

_3.04 AM_

 

The night guard had just done a round in the laboratories and entered the computer room. Erik Selvig, on his third night of insomnia, was checking the computer data a thousandth time, still not finding the answer he was looking for. One of the guards smiled at him and approached his desk.

 

“You should rest, Doctor. Look at it again with fresh eyes tomorrow.”

“Thank you…” He looked at the name tag the man wore. “Agent Martens. But I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep until I find out what is wrong with those numbers. Maybe you can be my fresh eyes.”

“I’m an ex-SEALS officer, sir, not an astrophysicist. The only thing I’m good at doing is keep you safe.”

“And you do that extremely well, officer-agent Martens. But right now, there’s not much keeping safe to—what the hell is that?”

 

One of their power sources had begun glowing. The four computers attached to it overflowed with data and printed page after page of gibberish. Dr Selvig grabbed one of the pages.

 

“What the… I’m going to need to analyse these readings.”

“I suggest you back off, sir.”

“I need to know how to fix this—”

“It’s over-heating, sir. Even I can see it’s not supposed to do that. I need to treat this as a menace.” He took his walkie-talkie. “I need help in research room 76. One of the computers’ power sources is about to blow up! All right, Doctor, come with me.”

“But…”

 

He grabbed Selvig and pushed him out of the room, just as another power source had begun to surcharge. Agent Martens closed the blast door and they watched through the window, waiting for reinforcements.

 

“Three of them… there’s three generators freaking out now. They’re in a triangular pattern. This is not random, something is happening.”

“This could also be a bomb, sir.”

“Why must everything be a bomb with you?”

“That’s how I survived Iraq, sir.”

 

The three generators reached their maximum, ready to explode, and then, in the middle of them three, a ray of energy pierced the ceiling, sending power up. A second later, a huge explosion followed.

 

“Jesus!” Dr Selvig screamed, as the agent pushed him away from the window.

 

The explosion had broken the unbreakable blast-resistant glass.

 

They got back up, helped by three guards and a lab tech who had come to assist. The moment they passed the door of the corridor, the room had exploded and the emergency protocol had enacted, locking them all in this corridor until back-up arrived.

 

“What the hell was that?” Martens asked.

“I kind of wished you knew”, the doctor answered, approaching the window.

 

He looked at the wreckage. All three power sources were in pieces all over the room. Computers, printers, cooling towers, everything had been blown away from the centre of the impact.

 

In the centre, there was a man.

 

“Holy crap!” Dr Selvig said. “We need to get in there.”

“Negative, sir. We need to clear the room first. There could be some radiations left.”

“This man could still be alive. He won’t if we wait.”

“I’m just following protocol, sir.”

“There’s a protocol for what just happened?”

“Explosions of… unknown origins, yes sir. We need to sweep the place for radiations. If tested positive, all 6 of us and this guy have to go through decontamination, since the blast window broke. Then—”

“oooooooowww…”

 

They paused. The man who had come with the explosion had just made a noise.

 

“He’s alive.”

 

Dr Selvig made a move towards the door, but the agent stopped him.

 

“Look, Martens, you said it yourself. If there’s radiation, we’re touched already, since the window exploded. Let me help him.”

“… all right. But I’m coming with and, at the first sign of any threat, I’m getting you back out.”

 

They tried to open the blast door, but it wouldn’t comply. Protocol kept it shut, so the doctor and agent climbed through the window. The lab tech stayed at the entrance with one of the guards and the two others, guns drawn, followed Martens and Selvig to the man… lying face down in the wreckage with some of the debris covering him.

 

“Sir, Selvig called, can you hear me?”

“…hhh… aaaar… hhh…”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. All right, I’ll help you.” He knelt down by his side to inspect him. “I know these clothes… They’re Asgardian.”

“Thor’s gang?” the agent asked, slowly lowering his gun.

“… more or… ugh… less”, the man said, slowly getting up.

 

Selvig got up in a spring and stepped away in fear. He had recognised him.

 

“Not you again!”

 

Martens pointed his gun back up, as did the other guards. Loki barely looked at them, but focused on the doctor… and on trying not to fall.

 

“Good to see you too, Doctor… in spite of… well… everything.”

 

He laughed, but lost his balance and grabbed one of the over-turned desks to break his fall.

 

“Not… my best… entrance… heh!” He slowly got back up, shaking. “That’s what happens when… you… improvise.”

“What are you doing here?” Selvig asked.

“Doctor, do not engage with him, the agent said. Walk away while we secure the threat.”

“Threat? He can barely stand up.”

“And I am unarmed, Loki added sarcastically. I’m afraid you… have caught me at a serious… disadvantage.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Walk away, Doctor.”

 

Selvig obeyed, but was still curious.

 

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Would you believe me if I said it was to warn you and help you win a battle?”

“No”, everyone answered.

 

He laughed and used the desk again for support. It wasn’t going to be easy to convince them.

 

“Well, then… you could get your leader, Mister… Fury… to talk to me. I’ll give the information I have to… give and then return home… preferably with a different means of transport.”

 

Martens took his time before answering. He wanted to make sure his answer would wipe off this sly smile from the Asgardian’s face.

 

“That won’t be possible. Because of the explosion, we are now locked down until it can be assessed there’s no health risk. I tried the radios already, nothing and I think the cameras blew up too, so Director Fury won’t know you’re here until the area is cleared. Once it is, we are taking you to a holding room. Whether or not the director speaks to you depends on two things: his will to do so and your level of cooperation while we’re here. So why don’t you show some good will and keep your hands up while I search you for weapons?”

 

Loki complied with a sigh of boredom and let agent Martens frisk him. The man searched every pocket, every layer of the Asgardian’s clothes, to recover a small white ball and a blue quartz pyramid.

 

“What are these?”

“This, Loki showed the pyramid, is a means of storing information. I am just hoping your crude machines can access it. If they cannot, that’s what this is for.”

 

He pointed to the white ball.

 

“So… it’s like a translator for computers?” Martens asked.

“Ha! A translator for computers; such a colourful Midgardian expression. But, yes, that is mostly what it does.”

“Mostly?”

“That is what I said.”

“What else does it do?”

“I will not say. You wouldn’t believe me.”

“All right, that’s enough. I’m putting you under arrest. You can play games with Fury later.”

“Wait!... I said I would not tell you.” He looked slightly nervous. “But I can _show_ you. Call it an act of good faith if you want.”

 

He looked sincere, desperate. But he was also a master of manipulation. He reached for the white ball, but the agent grabbed his hand. Selvig could see Loki’s right hand had turned blue. He was about to point it out when Loki saw it too and pulled it away. The agent did not react since he had already noticed and thought it was normal… or almost normal in these circumstances.

 

“Listen, as much as I may find this conversation enjoyable, we are right now at an advantage. But, time is running out and, when the attack comes, we need to be ready.”

“We?”

 

Loki groaned. It was hard for him to admit.

 

“Yes… _we_. This time, you and I are on the same side.”

“All right… I still don’t believe you so I’m going to let you prove it. You show me how this thing can help and I’ll give you a chance to speak to Fury.” He handed him the ball, but held it back again for a second. “You screw us over and I’ll chase you in hell until I’ve destroyed your soul. Are we clear?”

“Absolutely.”

 

He took the ball and, like a magician demonstrating his trick, he slowly turned the top half clockwise. There was a soft whoosh.

 

Loki put the ball in his pocket, grabbed the pyramid in Martens’ petrified hand and walked away.

 

“You need not worry. This will only last an hour. Thank you for your help, agent Martens… Doctor… Goodbye.”

 

He looked at all six petrified people around him and, with a victorious smile, left the room.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_The V.I.P. parking of Stark Enterprises_

_6.47 AM_

 

Miss Potts got out of her car, a few files in her hands, in an intense phone conversation.

 

“Well, tell Mr Burrows we will not renegotiate this merging. Stark Enterprises already offered him a fair price – way more than what our competitors have – and almost complete independence… Well, yes, you know how Mr Stark is… Yes, I stand by this contract… Of course, I know it; I wrote it!”

 

She hung up and swore.

 

“God damn it! I hate this man!”

“It shows”, a voice said behind her.

 

She turned, but before she could scream, a hand was on her mouth and Loki had pinned her against a car.

 

“I am terribly sorry for these crude manners, but this is an emergency. Do you know who I am?”

 

She nodded her head.

 

“Good, this will save us some time. What you need to know is I need your help.” She looked puzzled. “I know… I need to speak to your betrothed, Stark. He is at home, heavily guarded by his machines and you can get me in.”

“Why?” she asked through his hand.

“Because, if I go there alone, he will shoot me first, arrest me second and never listen to what I have to say… But if you let me in, and he trusts you, he just might listen… and if he does, he’s the only one in his little group of self-proclaimed heroes who may believe me. It is a very thin chance, but this is all I have at the moment.”

 

Pepper put her hand over his and freed her face so she could talk.

 

“If you want to use me to get to Tony, I need to trust you first. Why are you here?”

“Is everything all right, Miss Potts?” a guard said from away.

 

In a panic, Loki grabbed Pepper, who screamed, and took her behind a concrete pillar.

 

“Miss Potts?” the guard drew his weapon and began looking around for her.

“Give me a reason to trust you, she whispered to Loki. And be quick; the guard is coming.”

“… uh…” He took a look on the other side of the pillar, saw the guard, and hid again. “Very well, you win. Send the guard away.”

“Speak first. Then I’ll send him away. What do you want from Tony?”

“It’s too long to summarise.”

“Well, then…” she made a movement to leave.

“No!...”

 

He almost shouted, took a breath and stared back into Pepper’s eyes with sincerity.

 

“An attack is coming here, to Midgard. I know of the enemy’s plans and I must inform Stark, since, like I said, he’s the only one who might believe me.”

“Why are you on our side?”

“…”

“Why?” she shouted.

“I have no idea.”

“What?”

“Don’t move”, the guard said, emerging behind Loki with his gun pointed at his head.

“I have no answer… Not one I could give with words. I simply know I must help you and that, without my help, you will not survive.”

“We defeated you”, Pepper said.

“But you knew I was here. I made quite the entrance, something memorable. The Chitauri will not announce their arrival.”

 

She stared at him for a few seconds, but he didn’t flinch and looked honest enough.

 

“Kevin, frisk him.”

“Sir, let Miss Potts go and place your hands on your head.”

“aw, I hoped we could all behave like civilised beings.”

“Shut up, Pepper said. I’m not letting you near Tony without some precautions.”

“Really, Kevin asked. You’re trusting him?”

“No… but I’ll take him to Tony. He can sort all this out better than I can.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters_

 

“I want every inch of this base combed, Fury screamed. I want to know where he set foot, what he touched and everywhere this son of a bitch breathed air.”

“The search team lost his track, sir, agent Hill said. We’ve repositioned satellites, trying to keep up, but he could be anywhere right now. I’ve called Tony Stark to ask if he could use his computer to help tracking. He found nothing. I wish I could tell you more.”

“It’s all right, agent. None of this is your fault. We lost a lot of time with the clearing of the blast; we had to wait for the guys to defrost to even know what the f—what the hell happened.”

“I’ll still get some backup ready, just in case. We will find him, sir.”

“You bet we will.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_Tony Stark’s house_

 

The car pulled into the driveway and all three of them got out. Pepper entered the security code on the door lock and let them in, Kevin always behind Loki, ready to shoot him in case he misbehaved.

 

“He’s probably in his basement, working on a suit. I’ll go get him, wait here.”

“Get me for what?” Tony said, appearing from the kitchen.

 

His eyes met Loki’s. He saw Kevin behind him with the gun.

 

“Jarvis, initiate safety protocol number 45.”

“ _It is already enacted, sir_ ”, the mechanical voice answered.

“45, Kevin asked. You have 45 safety protocols?”

“Oh, I have many more than that… Which one are you?”

“Tony, this is Kevin, Pepper said. He insisted on coming along because he didn’t want me to be alone with—”

“Of course, Kevin. Good call, kid. Very good call indeed. You deserve a raise. I’ll check with accounting about that… I’ll have to throw you out now – need-to-know B.S. and all – but thank you very much.” He shook his hand. “Jarvis, Kevin will leave now.”

“ _Very well, sir_ , Jarvis answered. _Unlocking the front door._ ”

 

Kevin looked at Pepper who nodded to signify it was okay and left the house to go wait by the car. The moment the door locked, Jarvis’ voice said: “ _Safety protocol number 45 is back in place_.”

 

“What does that do?” Loki asked out of curiosity.

“Huh? Oh, you want to know what Jarvis has in store for you so you can try to dabble with it?”

“Tony”, Pepper started.

“The 45 was actually inspired by you. Last time you paid me a visit, I locked Jarvis onto your heat signature – which is easy to recognise, since it’s alien—”

“Get to the point”, Loki interrupted with an annoyed grin.

“You, my friend, are Protocol 45… In short: the moment you entered this house, about a hundred weapons got ready to kill you.”

“I am flattered by such a commendation.”

“Then I have failed. It was not meant as a tribute.”

“Guys, please!” Pepper shouted.

“Okay, I’ll cut to the chase: the only reason you are still alive is that you didn’t kill Pepper on the way here. She may think you are worth the trouble, I don’t. You have two minutes to change my mind.”

 

Loki shrugged and searched his coat pocket.

 

“ _Keep your hands visible at all times_ ”, Jarvis said.

“And how will I reach the items I need to make my case?” he asked with an amused smile.

 

Tony approached him and searched his pockets himself. Their faces were so close, he could see all the malice in Loki’s eyes and Loki could see in Tony’s the desire to rip his face off. That made him smile once more.

 

Tony removed the pyramid and the sphere.

 

“He said the pyramid contains plans, Pepper explained. I don’t remember the name of the aliens…”

“The attack plans the Chitauri have against the people of Midgard”, Loki answered.

“And why should I plug this into my computer?”

“I almost died twice to bring them to you and… Jarvis is about to make the third time stick.”

“That is a certainty”, Jarvis answered.

“All right, I’ll give it a look.” He pointed at the bar. “Jarvis, can you open an independent interface here?”

“ _Absolutely, sir. However, the one in the basement would be far more capable…_ ”

“No. I’m not letting him out of my sight… and there’s no way I’m plugging this on anything linked to you. There could be a virus or something in there. I want a separate interface, unattached from you, to analyse this.”

“ _Thank you for the attention, sir. It will require a moment for me to copy every piece of information needed for the analysis_.”

 

The bar transformed into a glowing blue interface and Tony, Pepper and Loki moved around it. Tony placed the pyramid on the bar and typed a few things on the virtual keyboard.

 

“I’m gonna scan this thing, just to make sure.”

“You can never be too cautious”, Loki agreed with a smirk.

“Jarvis, remind me to wipe that smile of Loki’s face when we’re done.”

“ _With pleasure, sir_.”

 

Pepper sighed, poured herself a cup of coffee and sat by the bar, while the computer was scanning the pyramid. In the meantime, Loki did a scan of his own, looked around, expecting to see a weapon or something pointed at him. Nothing. But of course, he did not really know what to look for.

 

“By the way, Tony interrupted his thoughts, what happened to your hand?”

 

He had noticed it earlier and thought it was a good moment as any to mention it.

 

“I’m not quite sure”, Loki answered calmly.

“You don’t seem that surprised to be turning into a Smurf.” The interface bleeped. “Scan complete, foreign plug-in, yadda-yadda… it looks safe.”

“Jarvis, Pepper said, please pause the 45 for a moment.”

“ _Are you certain, Miss Potts?_ ” the computer asked.

“Yes, Loki would have guessed we’d scan it first and then try to open it ourselves…”

“Clever!” Tony sprang from his seat like a Jack in a box, a gun in his hand. He always kept one near the bar, now, in case. “And then something like what happened to the S.H.I.E.L.D. guys this morning happens to us… You are going to turn it on and the first sign of anything foul, I or Jarvis will shoot you.”

 

Loki walked to the device and moved his hand over it to activate it. It began glowing and a virtual image of a star system appeared on Tony’s ceiling.

 

“This is not our sky”, Tony said.

“It is the Chitauri star system, where the attack will originate from, Loki explained. If you move towards – in this case – your living room, you will eventually enter the Asgard system… many thousands of your light years away, of course.”

“Give or take a few weeks”, Tony answered sarcastically, zooming on the location to make it appear above them. “Then what?”

“Continue towards this location”, he pointed to the staircase, “and you will find your own planetary system… You do recognise Midgard here.”

“Earth, yes!”

“Earth!... if you make the map smaller”, Loki gestured up and shrunk the map. Pepper gasped. “I learn pretty fast… With a smaller map, you will notice the Chitauri have to go through our system to get to yours…”

“Which means?”

“When I said earlier that they were planning to destroy you out of revenge, it was not the entire truth.”

“Of course it wasn’t. Jarvis!”

“No… wait for a moment, Jarvis.” He spoke calmly but they could see the panic in his eyes. Or was it madness? “They also wish to use you as a way to attack Asgard from both sides. Asgard can never guess the attack that will fall on them will come from… here.”

 

He pointed Earth on the virtual map. Both Tony and Pepper understood.

 

“They want to make it look like we’re attacking Asgard, Tony said, and in defending themselves, Asgard will strike us. Divide and conquer.”

“They won’t buy it, Pepper answered. We don’t have the level of technology to pull it off.”

“Some of you do, Loki explained. Your betrothed and his group of friends, the people of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Mister Fury… all put together, you have enough technological and war knowledge to make an attack on Asgard believable. Especially you, Stark. Jarvis here is proof.”

“ _Flattery will not work on me_ ”, Jarvis said.

 

Loki laughed and it did not help them feel better. Especially Pepper.

 

“This is their plan? How do you know all this?”

“Because I thought of it. It was the first idea I had in mind when I decided to take your world, but they convinced me it would be easier to simply conquer you all first by combining their power with my… techniques, heh! They had the power, after all and by trusting them, I lost the battle even before it began. So now, they are using my initial plan as revenge upon the both of us.”

“Us? What are they doing to you?”

“They’re threatening the only place I can still call home. I thought it was lost to me, but recently, I have been proven I still belong there.”

“Beautiful”, Tony commented.

“You do not believe me.”

“It’s still too vague. Needs proof.”

“Contact your friends at S.H.I.E.L.D. Their space analysis began showing anomalies they can’t understand. What they show is…” He flipped through the ‘pages’ of his database and showed a ship. “These. An entire fleet of these Chitauri vessels communicating with each other. They are not simply sending soldiers and empty machines, uh… robots, this time.”

“We call them drones.”

“ _They_ are coming, with vessels, soldiers and as well as with some drones. And it is only the first wave of the attack. You have plans of every kind of vessel they may send; though they will seem numerous to you, they are not a great many, because the Citauri do not often travel through space.”

“They ‘beam’ themselves around, Pepper said. Like last time.”

“Lovely expression. You know how the drones function, I have seen the vessels. I can point the weaknesses so you can take them down.” He flipped to other pages. “These are the different weapons they use and how they are powered… Their armours… their communication codes. Not something Midgardian technology can decipher, but this little ball can help and Jarvis can most certainly do the rest. Everything you need to defeat them is in the two devices I brought… and in here of course”, he pointed to his head.

“Is that an incentive for me not to kill you?” Tony asked.

“I thought it was a good argument.”

 

Loki laughed and sat by the bar, looking exhausted.

 

“How did you get all this intel?”

“You need not know that”, Loki shrugged.

“I’m just the guy who’s standing between you and about 20 000 bullets—”

“I stole it!” He calmed himself down before his shouts made Jarvis decide to shoot. “I voyaged to the Chitauri world last night, unseen, and stole it. It was actually pretty easy.”

“Are you sure they didn’t see you do it? Because, if they did, they _will_ change their plan.”

“I can be very discreet.”

“You, discreet? I don’t buy it.”

“I have a few talents… not to gloat, of course”, Loki’s voice said behind them.

 

That made them jump and Pepper dropped her coffee cup. Tony looked at Loki behind him… and in front of him. Both Lokis were smiling.

 

“Which one’s the real one, Jarvis?”

“ _The one behind you, sir_.”

“Jarvis!” Loki complained with a sad tone, making his double disappear. “You cannot play this game, you are too smart.”

“ _And I am still locked onto your signature. I insist that you walk away from Mr Stark immediately_.”

“Very well”, Loki’s voice said, from the living room.

 

They saw him sitting on the couch, as his bar-double disappeared.

 

“Well, Tony began, I guess I can try to reach Fury and see if your story fits with their evidence. In the meantime, why don’t you stay… all in one place?”

“I cannot make any promises.”

“Jarvis will make you keep ‘em.” He turned to Pepper. “The call will just take a minute.”

“I better get to work, she answered. I’d just be in the way. Besides, Kevin’s still waiting outside.”

 

She kissed him and went to leave, but stopped by Loki’s side.

 

“If you’re really helping us… then, thank you.”

“You are most welcome”, he answered in a gentlemanly fashion, almost flirting.

 

Tony gave him a dark look, as Pepper left the house.

 

“Don’t even think about it”, he said while getting his phone.

 

In order for the call to remain private, he left for the kitchen… but Loki knew he wasn’t alone. Jarvis was still watching.

 

“Jarvis… I may need your insight on something else.” He got up and slowly approached the bar. “I have not yet demonstrated how the second device works.”

“ _I know what it does_ , Jarvis answered. _S.H.I.E.L.D. called this morning so we know how you used it to paralyse everyone at the base and escape. I will not let you use it on Mr Stark_.”

 

Loki stopped and took an innocent look around.

 

“Not to worry, it was not my intention. No, it is only one of its many uses but it can also be used to help you – what is the word you use? – _hack_ into the Chitauri system. In a crude manner of speaking, it opens a door into any technological device and you can use it to enter and read all you want.” He pointed at the new interface bar. “I shall demonstrate it.”

“ _I would rather wait for Mr Stark_ —”

“As would I, Jarvis, however I feel that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will be coming here soon and I may not be able to do much once they do. I am trying to get your creator to give me a chance. I will demonstrate this on this independent computer and leave it up to you. I will not harm Stark, I promise you.”

 

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the ball and made the lower half move to a specific frequency. Then, he put it back and walked to the door of the house.

 

“You must be wondering what is happening. I ‘froze’ your system for a few minutes. You are smarter than the average Earth computer, so I may not have long. I left both devices on Stark’s bar. Maybe he will use them, and maybe that will help him defeat the invasion but one thing is certain: he and his friends will never trust me. I am not going back in a glass cage. Goodbye, Jarvis.”

 

He opened the door and left, no Protocol 45 stopping him, and Jarvis was left alone to wait for Tony to finish his call and reboot him.

 

 

He walked to an empty spot and, with the use of his magic, changed to a more human wardrobe. This way it was easier to blend in with the humans. As a car approached, he waved to it with the most genuine look of distress on his face, his blue hand carefully hidden in his pocket.

 

“What’s your problem, sir?”

“I’m very sorry. I need help to get to the airport. My car has broken down. Would you mind helping me get to town?”

 

Those were the right words. The man simply told him to ‘hop in’ and Loki complied. Fifteen minutes later, he dropped him in town and Loki found himself an isolated alley where he settled to gather his thoughts and the energy he’d need to fight when the battle would come.

 

 

It didn’t take long for Tony to find him. Jarvis had rerouted a satellite to locate him and showed him the recording of Loki’s goodbye. He knew Loki would try to outsmart him but he had a plan of his own.

 

The Iron Man landed in the alley and looked around for Loki… whom he found sitting on a box.

 

“You came here for nothing, he said. I have already told Jarvis I am not going back.”

 

Iron Man opened his hand, ready to zap Loki like a bug, but the God of Mischief only laughed.

 

“Brute force? Is this really what you have in store for me?”

 

Iron Man was swiftly attacked from behind; Loki had emerged behind him and immobilised him by using one of Tony’s special Tasers to make the machine freeze. His double on the box disappeared as he spoke.

 

“I expected more from a man they all call a genius.”

 

Suddenly he was himself grabbed from behind and felt a syringe inject something in his neck. Stark was standing behind him.

 

“I hope I’m not disappointing, then.”

“Wha…”

“I figured you’d use a lure, so I used one of my own.”

“Who is in this suit?”

“It’s an empty drone, my latest prototype. Jarvis is piloting it.”

“Heh… clever…”

 

Loki began feeling more and more numb. Tony helped him sit and sat by his side in his own Iron Man suit.

 

“By the way, where did you get the Taser?”

“The… one you keep… hidden behind the… bar?”

 

Tony made a goofy face.

 

“That’s where I left it! Seriously, this house is so loaded with weapons since your last visit, I forget where I put half of them… All right, we’re going to have to wait for Jarvis’ suit to reboot.”

“ _All ready, sir_ ”, Jarvis’ voice answered from the suit.

“Great! Get up! He’ll give you a ride.”

“… n… no…” Loki was now too numb to resist.

 

Tony got him up and shoved him in the other suit, which had opened to let him in. He then flew home, the second suit following him with its prisoner locked inside.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Back home, Tony ditched the suit and made himself a cup of coffee.

 

“You know, I was actually going to offer you that drink I owe you – for your good cooperation and all… and you go and pull that crap?”

 

He turned to see the suit staring back at him.

 

“Maybe I should just keep you in that… Let Jarvis play around with you. Make you fly, fall… crash…”

“Let me out”, Loki’s voice said from behind the mask.

“You’ve forgotten the magic word.”

“…”

“You know the… oh, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s an expression we use here when—”

“Please, Stark, let me out.” His voice was still authoritative, but tired and polite.

“Well, that happens to be the magic word, congratulations! But, of course, you know all about magic, don’t you?”

 

He nodded to Jarvis and the suit opened, vomiting a half-conscious Loki on the floor.

 

“I see you managed to change clothes in there… how the hell did you do that?”

 

Indeed, Loki was now too dizzy by the sedative to keep the human illusion and his Asgardian suit was back. Tony saw it as a sign he’d be weakened enough to, maybe, reason with. He helped him sit up and watched Loki massage his head in pain.

 

“Sorry about that… I didn’t know how much you needed to comply so I got enough to take down a horse… Need any help getting up?”

“I will manage…” Loki groaned while getting up, but he could barely stand. “I hope.”

“You need coffee a lot more than a drink”, Tony chuckled.

 

Loki ignored the remark and sat on Tony’s sofa, his head in his hands.

 

“Am I your prisoner now?”

“Well, only until Fury shows up. He’ll probably want you locked at S.H.I.E.L.D. It won’t matter that you don’t want to be in a glass cage; that’s what’s waiting for you.”

 

Loki looked at the empty suit that was headed downstairs to be stored and grinned.

 

“Jarvis betrayed me.”

“You shouldn’t have frozen him. He really doesn’t like that.”

 

They heard a strange noise: a helicopter was headed towards the house.

 

“That’s got to be Fury coming to claim his prize.” Loki’s eyes showed panic for only a second but he saw it. That convinced him to try a new approach. “Look… it’s obvious you don’t want to be locked up with yourself; I get that. I’d go nuts if that happened to me… actually, it did and I lost it. You’ve given me a lot here and maybe I can convince Fury to leave you here under Jarvis’ guard rather than in a glass jar like some kind of lab rat.”

 

Loki looked at him with a glazed eye, uncertain if this was honest or some manipulation tactic. He played the ‘helpless’ card to see how it would end. Easy card to play since the drug hadn’t worn off completely yet.

 

“You would do such a thing for me?”

“I’m as surprised as you are.” He grabbed Loki’s collar and opened it to look at his neck. “The blue thing has spread all the way up your arm and it’s about to reach your face. Is it some kind of infection?”

“Oh, I see, Loki laughed. You want to keep the ‘lab rat’ to yourself so you can study this?”

“Nope, I’m not a medical doctor, or a chemist, or anything that can help but, yeah, the thought did cross my mind. In truth, it’s because I’ll need you to help me with all this data and I work from home. Your help gets you to deserve a more comfortable cage and maybe a cure for this if I ever get the time to have it analysed… so, tell me, what is this blue thing?”

“… my real skin.”

“What? I thought Asgardians were humanoids… wha—why are you smiling now?”

“By birth, I am not Asgardian. I am Jotun or as they call us, Frost Giants. This skin”, he showed his human-like hand, “was given by Odin to make me his.”

“So… that skin is melting or what?”

 

Fury was now at the door, knocking. Behind him, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff were also present. Tony waved to them to wait for a moment which didn’t agree with the director.

 

“Stark, he screamed. Open the goddamn door!”

“If I’m putting my team in danger, I gotta know, Tony said to Loki. Tell me what is going on.”

“It is not contagious… I believe.”

“What. Is. It?”

“I believe I am dying.”

 

It was said so calmly. Just like when he threatened, Loki usually preferred to hide his feelings behind a composed sarcasm.

 

“Dying?”

“Stark, you motherf—son of a bitch!” Fury shouted.

“Jarvis, let them in.”

 

The door unlocked and Fury barged in, followed by Hawkeye and Black Widow. Tony jumped from his seat and met with Fury, stopping him in his violent course.

 

“Hey, Fury, how are you doing, buddy?”

“I’ll be better once this bastard is behind bars!”

“No can do. We’ll need him here to help translate all this data and, like I said on the phone, he got us a truck load of it. I may be a genius but I still need help.”

“Oh, he will cooperate; we’ll make sure of it…” Behind Fury, two agents had entered the house. One of them was Martens. “Agent Martens, you’ve requested to be the one who arrests him. You may now proceed.”

“With pleasure, sir.”

 

Martens approached Loki to cuff him, but the Jotun did not move from where he stood. He looked calm… too calm. Natasha saw he might take an opportunity to provoke them.

 

“Agent Martens, he said, you seem to have recovered quite well from my visit. You are not holding a grudge, I do hope.”

“I’ll forgive you the second I lock your cell door. How’s that for a deal?”

 

Loki laughed and, seeing Stark wasn’t interfering with his arrest, he simply walked away from Martens. Hawkeye grabbed his arm to stop him, Loki raised his own hand and they stared at each other, ready to fight.

 

“Wait a minute, Tony finally spoke. Were you about to hit my friend, here?”

“That would depend on your friend’s behaviour”, Loki answered.

“Well, I just offered you to trade the cell for this house… you wouldn’t want to jeopardise that chance by attacking my friend, now, would you?”

 

Loki rolled his eyes and lowered his hand.

 

“You are not serious, Fury said. You’re offering him sanctuary after what he’s done?... You must be out of your goddamn mind.”

“Look at what he’s brought us, Tony explained by showing him the data in the pyramid. Everything I told you about is right here.”

“That is IF an enemy is coming. We’ll need to cross-reference with our data before I start to believe a word he’s saying.”

“What kind of proof do you have that these plans are actually happening?” Hawkeye asked Loki.

“Rumours of it have already reached Asgard and I know them enough to know these are more than rumours. The Chitauri lost an army and valuable technology on this planet, in a war they were fighting from worlds away.”

“They want revenge…”

“Well, until we verify this information, we should follow protocol, Fury explained. You are still a threat to the people of this world and need to be dealt with.” He looked at a few pages. “Your intel looks good and if it proves to be happening, we’ll talk about trust. The more you help, the more forgiving I’ll be. But I won’t close my eyes at the countless lives you took last time you were here without a damn good reason.”

“I am not going back in a cage, Mr Fury, and I am not saying this only because you need me and time is running out.”

“There are 6 of us. Do you really think it’s wise to resist arrest?”

“Oh, I do not need to. Thanks to ‘Protocol 45’, I only have to try to fight you and Jarvis will destroy me in seconds… am I not right, Jarvis?”

“ _Perfectly right,_ Jarvis answered _. 20 000 armour-piercing bullets ready to be shot at you, should you prove hostile. However, there may be casualties since the shots will come from all over the house_.”

“So you see, agent Martens, Mr Fury, I am already in a cage. The only difference is I have company! And, not to offend you, but Jarvis has done, so far, a much better job at being my jailor than your agents have the last time I paid you a visit.”

 

Seeing their disappointed looks, Loki had a laugh and walked to the bar to begin his work. The more it would look important, the faster Fury would leave him alone.

 

“I believe we should begin with the vessels. The first wave of attack will come directly from space, so they can clear landing sites. They will focus on your military installations to destroy your defences all around this world.”

“We’re going to have to coordinate with the rest of the world to plan a response”, Fury thought out loud.

“It would be preferable, Loki said while showing the data. Pardon me, agent Martens, you are standing in the middle of a Chitauri commander vessel.”

 

They watched the hologram around the agent. A mothership. The ship was monstrously big, even scaled down to one hundredth of its size.

 

"If you look at the research Dr Selvig was doing before my arrival interrupted him, you will see patterns of codes that resemble this", he flipped to the appropriate 'page' and showed them what he meant. "This particular sequence can be translated into this ship manoeuvre. For the other sequences, I will need the help of the other device, but I will not use it now, while Jarvis is still angry at me."

 

He showed them the sequence and the hologram showed them the ships position themselves around Earth. Hawkeye pointed some of the simulated targets and Fury noted them to send a team there, just in case.

 

"If you are right, the director said, do you know how to stop them before they land?"

 

Loki smiled.

 

"Of course you do", Natasha said.

"All right, I'll need to verify all this with Dr Selvig, Fury continued. Can you send me all that information?"

"Jarvis can, Tony answered. He'll plug into this interface and copy everything. It'll be there waiting for you when you get home."

"It better be. I'll go check this out and run things from S.H.I.E.L.D." He looked at the two Avengers who had come with him. "Stick to him like his shadow."

"Count on it, sir", Hawkeye said.

 

Fury left, the agent and Martens behind him. If Loki was telling the truth, and he hoped it wasn't the case, he would have to mobilise all his agents, contact every military force of the world, hope it doesn't cause political chaos and then coordinate a global riposte.

 

Good thing he trusted the Avengers to keep things mostly in order.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Clint and Natasha stood by the bar, an eye on Loki, while Tony showed them the database in details.

 

"I have to show you this map, it is so cool!"

"Yeah, it's awesome, Natasha said. You got a new toy."

"So, in a way, he bribed you, Clint shrugged. He brought you a shiny new piece of technology and you opened your house to him."

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for cool gadgets", Tony confessed.

"Could that be worth... this drink you owe me?" Loki asked in an innocent tone.

 

They all stared at him and Tony made a goofy face.

 

"Sure, why not? Name your poison! I've got whiskey, vodka, tequila..."

"Arsenic", Hawkeye suggested which made Natasha smile.

"It's 9.30 AM, she said, and we're working."

"Right, coffee it is!"

 

He poured a cup for each of his friends first and then handed one to the Frost Giant who looked at it, unsure, before trying it.

 

"We've seen their technology a little, thanks to you, Black Widow said. What can you tell us about _them_?"

"A lot more than I'd wish to know, but not much that would be of use. They are more destroyers than conquerors. They wouldn't know how to govern you if they had to. Their world is a sterile wasteland and they are as cold as it, unable to negotiate with. The only way to survive among them is if you are smart enough to make them believe they can use you."

"Which you did." She took a sip of her coffee. "So, unless one of us proves to be a weapon of mass destruction..."

"Which you are", Clint answered with a wink.

"We can't try any trick on them."

"Had something in mind?"

"Besides the master of manipulation standing next to you?" Tony asked with humour.

 

They looked at Loki sipping his coffee and looking back at them with the most innocent eyes in the world. Tony had a laugh at that reaction.

 

"Well, yes, Natasha answered. He's worked with them once. If he can convince them to 'use' him again, we'd have someone on the inside."

"If someone can pull it off, Clint said, it's him."

"I have actually thought of this, Loki explained. Alas, it will not work, for a very simple reason."

"You lost the war last time, so they hate you now."

"Their plan was a failure. Brute force and destruction is their tactic, not mine. I wanted to do things my way, but they insisted that they provided the power, that I had to follow their lead and they caused their own demise."

 

They all shook their head. Loki was too proud to admit he shared fault in his defeat. After all, he did go along with the Chitauri attack.

 

"However, I may have a way back into the Commander's trust, but it would depend on too many factors that have not happened yet."

"What is it?"

"Not now... let us see before if we survive the first strike."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters_

_10.07 AM_

 

“So, you’re telling me we can trust him this time?” Fury asked.

 

Dr Selvig looked at agents Hill and Martens and approved.

 

“We can trust the information he sent us is real. It corroborates with the readings I have here. The anomalies detected by our computers are ships communications that echoed into space. I’ll need more time to translate what they’re saying, but I guess you could just ask him…”

 

Fury turned around to speak to the men behind him. Thor and Steve Rogers stared back at him, the first with a look of contained relief, the second with doubt.

 

“So, now what, sir?” Rogers asked.

“I shall go to my brother’s assistance, Thor answered. Perhaps you would like to come with.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea? All of us together over there, I mean. Last time we regrouped around your brother and dealt with him, things got out of hand. If we have to fight him again, I’d like to know where you stand on this.”

“You may not have to fight, Martens explained. He wounded himself coming here and I have a feeling he is a lot more weakened than he lets on. He could be restrained without a fight if he loses control.”

“No restraining will be necessary, Thor said. You have just proven he came here to help. Though I still wonder why, I am already relieved. Loki is a difficult one to understand, but everything he does is carefully planned. Once you understand the plan, the rest is easier to comprehend.”

“What plan did you understand?” Rogers asked.

“His former allies are threatening to destroy our home, not only this world. Midgard means nothing to Loki, but I believe Asgard still does and he is willing to associate himself to the people who once defeated him to help preserve this home. What he does to your world after that is uncertain, but for the moment, we are all on the same side.”

“You are too trusting, Fury said. This is the guy you arrested last time for killing millions with a smile on his face.”

“It is not trust. Loki is my brother, I know him more than I admit to. I may not always trust him, I may not agree with his motives, but I have trust _in_ him.”

“You’re the only one, Rogers confessed. I, for one, have no idea why he does any of this. Protect Asgard, okay, but here? Why risk your life for a world you tried to take over before? Why not just sit and wait for the fight to reach home and then use all your knowledge to defeat the enemy?”

“Very clever questions. We shall ask him once we reach Tony Stark’s home.”

“Should I prepare a chopper for you guys?” agent Hill asked.

“Unless Thor wants to give me a lift, Steve chuckled, that would be a good idea.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_Tony Stark’s house_

 

“All right, buddy, thanks!”

 

Tony hung up the phone and climbed back the stairs to the living room.

 

“I made a few calls; back up is on the way.”

“Who’s coming?” Clint asked.

“Rogers was at S.H.I.E.L.D., he’s coming in a little while by chopper and I asked Bruce to join us and bring us lunch. He’s smart enough to help decipher all this data and I’d like him to take a look at our new friend’s blue problem.”

“What?”

“The melting skin thing. Loki is sick and Bruce may be able to study whatever he’s got… maybe even cure it.”

“Why do you care?” Loki asked.

“You risked your life to help us. That almost makes up for your last visit. The least I can do is try to figure out what’s killing you.” He changed his mood and poured some coffee refills. “And who knows? It could be of use to us. Maybe there’s a protein in Frost Giant blood that could cure cancer or create a chemical weapon. Everybody wins.”

“Oh, Loki’s crazy smile returned. So, it’s not a completely selfless action then.”

“Was your help a completely selfless action?” Clint intervened.

 

The Jotun didn’t answer, but something in his face caught Natasha’s eye. There was more to the story.

 

“You still haven’t answered Tony’s question, she said. You have a plan to gain their trust again. What is it?”

“It is still too early to even contemplate it.”

“Tell us anyways, Hawkeye answered. Even if we don’t have all the variables right now, if and when they fall into place, we’ll be ready.”

“Always be prepared, Tony chuckled. Rogers is rubbing off on you.”

 

They exchanged a laugh that only annoyed Loki some more. Natasha could see he didn’t want to speak of that particular plan. She stared at him, persistent, until he spoke to get rid of her.

 

“I may have a way back in the Chitauri Commander’s trust. I have been here before, he has not. I could provide strategic information and, since I have been defeated, I would appear desperate enough so he wouldn’t question my loyalty. However, the… _other_ being he obeys to may require more convincing.”

“You, grovelling before him, Clint said. I’d pay a fortune to see that.”

“I am certain you would. However, if they find me here with you, the ruse will fail. We are not supposed to be allies.”

“That’s why you escaped earlier?” Tony asked, not sure of the reason.

“He escaped?” Hawkeye looked around the house and back at Tony with a mix of worry and amusement. He had found two of the hidden weapons in one look. “I thought you had some crazy security measure to avoid that.”

“The bastard froze Jarvis! I had to reboot the whole system to find him. It won’t happen again.”

“ _Indeed it will not, sir_ , Jarvis said. _I am now protected against that frequency_.”

 

Loki showed his saddest face; a true poster for the promotion of abandoned puppies rescue.

 

“I do hope you will learn to forgive me, Jarvis. I had to at least try.”

 

Jarvis did not answer. He didn’t need to. Everyone knew Loki didn’t escape just for the plan to work.

 

“What else were you planning?” Natasha asked.

“You love so much to get inside other people’s heads. Why don’t you guess?”

“Why don’t you pretend you’re still on trial here and give us a reason to trust you?”

“Ugh…”

 

He took a deep breath and walked to the couch to sit and think of his answer. Hawkeye saw one of Tony’s concealed weapons follow him around to keep the aim.

 

“There are many reasons, Loki finally said. Making my loyalty to them believable was only one of them. I also expected to avoid your company – no offense intended – because I knew you would want to put me in a cage. I did not escape one only to return in it. Alone, I would attack the Chitauri on my own terms and, if that did not earn me a way out of incarceration, I would have at least spent that time free.”

“You need a holiday now and then, Tony said. A few days out of prison to cause chaos and mayhem in an entire race… Hard for you to resist.”

 

Loki laughed and they could see the madness that had before taken his mind. It had not really left.

 

“What’s the third reason?” Natasha asked. She had kept a cool head.

 

Again, no answer. Clint picked up on what she meant and tried to provoke an answer out of him.

 

“You commanded their army once, he said. By attacking them from within, if you kill the commanding officer, you could take over and lead them again.”

 

Loki couldn’t help but smile. He enjoyed the humans’ worries.

 

“The thought did cross my mind.”

“You back-stabbing son of a bitch. Trying to make us believe you want to help when—”

“I am here, am I not? I could simply stay away and watch them destroy your world, one miserable life after the other. I chose to intervene. For once, our interests are aligned. That alone should suffice you.”

“ _Sir_ , Jarvis interrupted, _you have a visitor_.”

 

Tony walked to the door and saw Bruce Banner come in with three pizza boxes.

 

“Hey, man, come in!”

“Hey, guys…” The shy man walked in, trying not to stare at Loki. “I bought one more since Tony said Steve was coming… Fury also called me to keep me updated. Apparently, those ships are close enough for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s deep-space radar telemetry system to catch a bit of their communications. They recorded this.”

 

He opened his cell phone and played the file. A sequence of strange sounds echoed through the house.

 

“Did you get that, Jarvis?” Tony asked while giving some pizza to everyone but ignoring Loki.

“ _Indeed, sir. Searching Loki’s database for similar codes_.”

“Try the third star map, Loki said. The one showing your planetary system.”

“You recognise this code?” Tony asked while preparing a plate.

“These are coordinates. They are navigating their way here… they have now reached… Play it again, Doctor.”

 

Bruce complied and Loki pulled the map. A few seconds of thought and he showed them the point of origin.

 

“That is awfully close, Clint remarked. I mean, it’s still light years away but considering where their world is and how fast they went from there to here… I’m no astrophysicist but it looks like they’ll be here today.”

“They will”, a voice said.

 

They turned to see Steve walk in, Jarvis having opened the door for him.

 

“Dr Selvig confirmed right in front of me what you said. According to him, they’ll be here before dark.”

 

Tony traded him the USB key he was carrying for a slice of pizza and plugged it into the bar’s interface. The numbers aligned perfectly.

 

“Fury was… well, furious, Steve said while eating. I think he hoped Loki was lying.”

“I almost never lie”, the Jotun answered with a falsely offended tone.

“You pick you words carefully and only tell a portion of the truth to mislead us about the rest of it… There aren’t many differences between that and lying.”

“So scandalous, Loki grinned. With such behaviour, one would wonder why your world has called me the God of Mischief for centuries.”

“There’s only one God. And he doesn’t do what you do to people.”

“I beg to differ… Captain. I have heard of that tale of countless humans murdered, drowned, because some of them did not please your God.”

“Yeah, my bad, Clint confessed. I told him that one when I was possessed.”

“What is this?” Loki stared at the plate Tony handed him.

“We now have tangible proof you can be moderately trusted. That’s worth some pizza.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Thor had left Steve on the helicopter roof and made a quick detour before landing by Tony Stark’s house. The news he had carried were both sad and hopeful. Sad because of the upcoming war; hopeful because they made him right to have put trust in his brother.

 

He climbed the steps of Stark’s house and saw all the other Avengers inside, chatting around a holographic map and eating pizza. He also saw his brother on a couch, looking annoyed at Bruce doing something to his arm. He could not see the doctor was drawing some of his blood.

 

“ _Thor, buddy!_ Come in!” Tony greeted him.

 

A look between Loki and him and Bruce knew he had to hide the blood samples and not speak of it. Loki also hid his blue hand in his pocket. Natasha saw it and whispered something in Clint’s ear, while Steve asked Thor what took him so long.

 

“Father would not let me be, Thor laughed. I thought prudent to give him the news already. I told him all I knew and he is preparing for the surprise attack from here.” Thor walked to his brother. “You took an enormous risk, stealing all this information for us. He had to know that.”

“You are still foolishly hoping he cares.”

“He does. Brother, how can you not see—”

“You know it to be true. You wish him to care, because you do, but you are wasting your time.”

“…”

“…”

“I know, Thor finally confessed. But I had to try. I had to show him I was right to trust in you.”

 

Loki walked to the bar, to pull a page from his pyramid database.

 

“I will stand up for you, Thor insisted. Even if I am the only one. I saw what happened to you; the same could easily have happened to me. I am not going to give up.”

 

Everyone else was uncomfortable. This was too personal a moment to happen before them. Bruce took advantage of the moment to leave for Tony’s basement, vials of blood in hand, to do his own work. The others saw Loki had trouble keeping his calm – there was some residual madness left – but he would not get angry or worse, cry in front of them.

 

“Thank you”, he only said.

 

And it was all. They would not speak of it anymore. He resumed his explanations of the database as well as his sarcasm. Thor simply put his hand on Loki’s shoulder and listened.

 

“This is where they are most likely to position themselves for an attack. They could pinpoint your military installations and will bring them down first, so your soldiers will be out of control. The prisoners will be converted using the same kind of power I used last time, but only it will be to attack Asgard in your name. Since you are not equipped to fight them outside of your atmosphere, you will have to wait until they are within reach to riposte and you will lose many soldiers.”

“But you brought that white ball that freezes technology… and people”, Steve said.

“Precisely. Once we get the right frequency, we can ‘freeze’ their vessels’ computers. That will give you a short window of time to cause them a maximum of damage with whatever aircraft you possess.”

“Sending an update to Fury”, Clint said while taking notes on his smartphone. “He’s going to have to coordinate a global offensive.”

“I shall help you in any way I can”, Thor answered.

“No, his brother said. Once they have reached this world, they will already begin converting people to attack Asgard. Divide and conquer, as they say here. You should stay there to protect them and lead them into battle. You… you are their best hope.”

“If I remain here, I can try to stop the Chitauri before they reach home. If I fail, Father is more than capable of leading them in another battle.”

“Oh, please! He couldn’t see his worst mistake grow up before his eyes. The only thing he is capable of is failing once more. If you truly care for Asgard, you will not leave it to him to protect it. Are you not it’s future king?”

“Can we talk about stopping them here first?” Steve interrupted. “I would love to help Asgard and if the battle reaches there, I’ll be happy to go and fight. But if we win _here_ , we won’t even have to worry about your people.”

 

Thor agreed, but Loki only sneered. It had taken all of them to stop him last time and they had taken him by surprise. He had obviously underestimated them. The Chitauri commander knew what he was up against. It would not be easy… especially if the Commander did not come here alone. Loki feared that the Other was on one of those ships; that he would have to outwit him…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters_

_2.26 PM_

 

Dr Selvig was restless. He had just analysed the most recent data his computers had given and the result was a pure nightmare. A few hours earlier, all these threats were still words. Now they were facts.

 

He burst into Fury’s office, followed by Martens, interrupting a conversation between the director and agent Hill.

 

“What is it, Doctor?”

“Remember when I said they’ll be here tonight?... Because I do and I’m slightly freaking out. I’ve just analysed the most recent data and confirmed with NORAD and NASA… they are already in our solar system.”

“Now what?” Martens asked.

“We haven’t received answers from half the countries we contacted, agent Hill said. China is ready to fight back. The French and the Spanish are coordinating with the British. They’ll trade soldiers to cover each other. Russia still hasn’t answered.”

“Yeah, I just received word from Canada, Fury said. They’re going to back us up. They’re more an army of protection than one of offense, though.”

“All they need to do is send some of their French up there and the Chitauri will surrender”, Martens teased.

 

Fury scoffed and smiled.

 

“Well, we better get our own boys in the air. I’ll call Stark. Thor also said his gang has been warned. They’ll attack these aliens’ home world and make sure they can’t send back up, I have no idea how but we’ll take it. We could use a few more gods on our side.”

“I’ll get the Air Force on the line, Hill said. Martens, where are we on that jet-carrier the Navy promised us?”

“They called me about ten minutes ago. It’s already here, we can begin evacuating the personnel to the back-up base.”

“My God, Selvig said. This is really happening.”


	2. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They waited... now they must fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Stargate quote in here somewhere... hint: Maybourne and O'Neill say that one XD

Part II: The Storm

 

“All right, lady and gentlemen, it’s on!” Tony hung up and jumped into his suit. “They’ve spotted ships all over the country… We’ll start our way around here and move towards the East Coast once the place is cleared. We’ll be up there with the Air Force, the Navy and Army jets and choppers. Anything that can fly and shoot, mostly. Now, Cap’ I have a gift for you. I called the boys of the Army and they have an old-fashioned F-15 standing by just for you.”

“I haven’t piloted in ages.”

“It’s like a bicycle. Once you’ve learned… well, you get it.”

 

He grabbed Rogers to give him a lift to the base. Hawkeye grinned, seeing the prototype suit Tony had left for him. He had had such a quick crash course on how to use it and he hoped not to crash. Still he put it on and followed, after a quick look to Natasha who was staying behind. Loki caught that.

 

Thor gave a friendly smile to his brother and left too, in his usual Mjölnir-induced storm.

 

“You did not stay behind only to keep an eye on me, did you?” Loki asked while stealing another slice of pizza.

“I am where I should be, she answered. The whole world will fight back and S.H.I.E.L.D. will need help to deal with all the other countries. The fact I know many countries’ politics and speak many languages will help.”

“What about Dr Banner?”

“Do you see him in a jet and suddenly lose his calm?”

“No… such a pity. He is a very effective weapon.”

“We’ll need him _if_ they reach the ground. Jarvis, can you connect us to S.H.I.E.L.D. please? Put this on.”

 

She gave Loki a little ear plug with a microphone on it. He looked at it, saw her put hers in her ear and did the same. Fury’s voice echoed in his ear, just as they were seeing him on Tony’s television.

 

“We’re ready”, Natasha told him.

“Good. I’ll patch you through to our European and North-Asian allies, Miss Romanoff. Agent Hill is already in deliberations with most Asian authorities as well as Australia. They’re already engaging them. Loki!”

“Director Fury”, he answered sarcastically.

“I have a worldwide operation to run and no time for your dabbling. We need that hacking device to work NOW! Martens is in charge of North America, he’ll be dealing with all sorts of military and – because of your brother – we’ll leave you to be the Avengers’ eyes out there. You’ll report to Martens and you will do whatever he asks. You disobey him or screw us over or get someone hurt and I’ll drag you to hell myself.”

“Agent Martens has already promised me that”, Loki laughed.

“Then I’ll help him… and put that pizza down, this isn’t movie night.”

 

Loki did not comply. Pizza in hand, he opened the white ball device, selected the right frequency and used Jarvis to send it via satellite to numb the ships. He then logged to see the corner of sky the Avengers would fight on. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Chitauri entered the atmosphere to be greeted by a hail of bullets. Worldwide, military aircraft used all their firepower on this common enemy. The technology was nowhere as good as these vessels however, thanks to Loki’s intel and the ball device, thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hard work to coordinate the whole thing, they still managed to cause noticeable damage to the aircraft. Russians made a few of them crash in Siberia where the surviving aliens met soldiers as tough as the ice they stood on.

 

In Middle-East, a fleet of Chitauri ships and drones got caught on one side by Egyptian and Libyan jets, while on the other by Israeli Air Force. Fury coordinated with them to make sure they’d unite strengths against the common enemy and then sent some troops further south to protect other, less armed countries.

 

In Vatican, everyone gathered to pray while, in the sky above them, one of the fighters named Mario Vanutelli, a blueprint of the motherships on his lap, took down three of them and blew up a dozen drones, all while swearing the most sinful words. He figured saving the Pope would earn him his peace of Heaven anyways.

 

Over Maine, the U.S. Air Force were starting to be outnumbered by the enemy when, at the last moment, from the North, a few jets bearing maple leaves and fleur-de-lys flew in to surprise the enemy.

 

“Tiens mon ostie!” a pilot said in French.

 

The shots fired, opening a breach for all the Canadian and U.S. soldiers to fly through and reach the mothership.

 

Down south, where the Avengers fought, Tony’s house was on a safe area… for now. Inside, Natasha was liaison to a dozen countries and S.H.I.E.L.D. offices. Loki’s white ball device had helped her patch through most communication centres and she had now to play war strategist as well as political moderator.

 

By her side, Loki had the horrid task of having to deal with the Avengers. Knowing the ‘do-gooder’ nature of Rogers and the showmanship of Stark, he let them attack the Chitauri face to face, while he’d guide Hawkeye in the ‘Jarvis suit’ to a mothership vulnerability where he’d use his sniper abilities and bring it down. It worked very well and, since they had done this kind of thing before, they didn’t need him that much.

 

“You explained them too well”, Thor’s voice said in his ear to reassure him.

 

Speaking of the brother, he was so powerful that he would take ships on his own and even brought down a mothership without having to use the help of a diversion. He was now fighting with one of the Chitauri creatures, a giant worm that looked like a dragon.

 

As for Loki, he was stuck with watching and sometimes warning this or that person of something they could not see coming. How boring.

 

“How is it going on your end?” Martens would ask every ten minutes through the communicator.

“They are all still alive”, Loki would answer sadly.

 

Planning a war or fighting it was exciting to him and now he was doing neither.

 

He was _watching_.

 

“This is worse than prison.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The F-15 Steve was piloting made an ‘S’ manoeuvre between two enemy jets and began shooting at them. Behind those ships, Tony flew and landed on top of a third one.

 

“Surprise!” he shouted before smashing the hull open and ripping the pilot out.

 

Steve laughed and disposed of his own targets, to the awe of the other pilots. He then flew to a mothership and proceeded to do the usual face to face fighting technique that would keep the enemy focused on him… a few minutes later, an explosive arrow entered through a cannon of the huge vessel and finished bringing it down. The ship fell and all the drones that were controlled by it crashed into the ocean.

 

Hawkeye was sitting calmly on one of the enemy’s dragon-like creatures.

 

“Great job”, Steve congratulated him.

“Likewise.”

 

And with the use of his flying suit, he destroyed the infernal beast that had been his ride and flew to reach another target. Steve cleared him the way by taking down three enemy drones.

 

“Cap’ you need a break, Tony said through the radio. You’ve been in their direct line of fire for an hour now.”

“Someone has to be and you draw too much attention to yourself for me to let you do it alone.”

“Ha! Why not—woooooaaah!”

 

A jet had shot at him and he almost fell trying to dodge the hit.

 

“Because, Rogers answered. I got him.”

 

He flew after the one who had attacked Tony and made it follow him, lead him on a race and, at the last minute, changed course. The enemy jet crashed onto another one. After that very crafty manoeuvre, he flew back and waved at Tony who applauded him.

 

Meanwhile…

 

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!”

“I know that war cry”, Tony shrugged.

 

Thor had used his god-like powers over nature and created a third thunder storm, engulfing a fleet and another one of those dragon-beasts in it… it knocked out their system and crushed their lives with the energy gathered by his hammer Mjölnir. The drones fell to the ground and the jets lost control and crashed into each other. One more hammer hit on the big creature’s head and it too was history.

 

“Jarvis, remind me to make one of these for myself”, Tony said.

“I have already tried, Loki’s voice answered. It is not possible.”

“Party breaker.” 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Loki laughed at Tony’s disappointment and grabbed himself some more coffee.

 

“What’s so funny”, Martens asked on the line.

“Not enough things are in this life, he answered. The ones called Rogers and Barton have done much damage in this area… they may be able to send some soldiers to other parts of your country.”

“Good to know. We have a problem in Nevada that could use reinforcements.”

“I thought you said earlier this region was mostly a desert.”

“Yeah… but there’s also Area-51 right smack in it.”

“Area-51?”

 

By his side, Natasha choked on her coffee.

 

"There is a top-secret military base there, Martens shrugged. The tale says that, supposedly, they study aliens, but the fact is the base does exist."

"Then you do need reinforcements."

"What's going on?" Tony asked on the line.

"Agent Martens requests help over a place called Area-51."

"You gotta be shitting me!"

"How vulgar!" Loki complained with disgust.

"I'm taking a dozen guys and heading there myself, now."

"Tell me if you find aliens", Hawkeye laughed through the line.

 

Martens was relieved backup was headed there. One less mayhem to think about. Except, once it would all be over, he'd have to make sure Stark doesn't try anything stupid. That base's mission was still secret, no matter how much the Iron Man wished to snoop around.

 

 

Natasha swore in Russian and switched lines to speak to another officer from Germany.

 

"They just said it's not part of their country anymore and they wouldn't bother to care. Someone has to send troops there." Her German was rusty but she could still make herself clear enough. "Because you can afford to send back-up... the Uzbeks will be very grateful... your sky is already covered by your Luftwaffe and you have jets to spare... yes... no, agent Hill has already called China, they're already backing up Laos and India... They may be billions but they can't do it all on their own... I'm not even telling you about the mess she has to deal with in Korea... General please, I will personally owe you one."

 

Once that was dealt with, she put her line on 'mute' so no one could hear her talk to her couch neighbour.

 

"I hope he doesn't ask me to kill someone... ugh... I can't help but wish some of them make it to the ground so I can kick their ass. Politics do make me want to hit something."

"It is certainly not as amusing as killing someone", Loki answered with a sneer.

"I wouldn't have used the word 'amusing', but, yeah, it would let out some anger."

 

He turned his own mike to 'mute' and smiled.

 

"Perhaps our wish will be granted and we will get a chance to _entertain_ ourselves."

"There's another reason, is there?" She brutally changed the subject.

"..."

"That you want to attack the Chitauri on your own." She pointed to his neck. "It's spreading to your face now, and I saw how you were when Thor was here. You hid your blue hand in your pocket and told Bruce not to show the blood he took from you."

"This is obviously not the right time for you to try to get inside my head."

"What I understand from this is you are hoping to die in this war. Is it to avoid the cell, to avoid the slow and painful death this poison gives... or both?... But there's something about Thor that weighs in there too."

"We will not speak of this."

"I still have a few minutes before my line rings again. What is it?"

 

Loki didn't answer and returned to the satellite views to warn Rogers of a drone that had sneaked behind him. Natasha kept staring at him until it reached the moment she knew most people would crack. When that didn't happen, she looked away and returned to her screen.

 

"Last time I was home, he slowly began, before we met... Thor and I were fighting. I was trying to make a point he later understood, to prove myself worthy to Odin... Thor's equal. Thor saw it, but his father would always deny the truth."

"... That whatever it is you did was to prove you were also his son?"

"He has lied to me my whole life. I simply showed him the truth... In short, it led to me letting myself fall to my own death."

“I didn’t know that.”

 

She put back her tablet and sat next to him again, showing nothing but empathy on her face… something she mimicked well.

 

“I got lost and travelled through many worlds. The Chitauri found me and restored my body to health with their power… It made me stronger and changed me. Not just that power, but the world it originated from. The things I lived there made me different and awoke my true nature, which – and leave this to yourself – terrified even me.”

“What do you mean, your true nature? That sociopathic dictator you were last time was your true nature?”

“Though I have lived on Asgard my entire life, by birth I am a Jotun, a natural enemy of my brother’s race. Our world resembles the Chitauri world in many ways and so does our behaviour. Their power made the Jotun part of me stronger and, by nature, I was to destroy Asgard… I ended up doing the next best thing: trying to take away this world my brother cherishes.”

“I see…”

“Through the war, their power kept me alive, stronger… Then, you know what happened: I was vanquished and left to rot in a cell… without that power by my reach.”

“I understand.” And she really did. “It was like a drug for you. It made your more primal instincts you had repressed pop out and take over. Your forced rehab from it made you…”

“I went mad, yes!”

 

He deeply hated to speak of this and had no idea why he was telling her all that. Maybe just to have one person who understands him? When Martens called to check up on him, he didn’t answer.

 

“What’s happening to you is the consequence of that?” Natasha asked.

“When I heard of the attack, I escaped my cell and reached the Chitauri world, unnoticed, to steal their information… While I was there, I felt their power again. It is the source of all their technology and I had to use it.” He showed his blue hand with a sigh. “I also had to use the energy of an explosion to come here…”

“And it wounded you.”

 

He didn’t answer but didn’t need to, she had understood all that he had said and even more. Her look of concern was now genuine.

 

“So you felt the drug again… You feel the need for it, your ‘other’ self yearns for it and is destroying your Asgard skin. And the explosion made you too weak to fight it.”

 

He remained silent.

 

“What I don’t get is why you don’t want Thor to… know.” She understood the moment she asked. “He’s the only one who stood up for you, who hoped you could come back and be a hero. You don’t want him to know you’re falling again and are about to lose it. You hope your death in battle covers it up.”

“Enough… Germany, I believe, is calling.”

“You don’t want to disappoint him. As much as you hate him… you love him. You two aren’t that different from normal brothers, you know.”

 

He didn’t answer and reopened his link to get back in touch with Martens. The time for confessions was over. She insisted one last time.

 

“You should tell him all this. Trust him with it. I’m sure he’ll be grateful you did.”

 

Behind them, unseen, Bruce had heard everything. He thought of waiting for a minute before showing himself, but then, Loki did the most unforeseen, unpredictable thing.

 

He wiped a tear from his eye.

 

“Hey, maybe you don’t have to”, he said, coming in the living room.

 

They both turned to see the shy doctor walk in with a syringe in his hand.

 

“I made some tests on your blood and I think I found a way to slow this thing down a bit. I’d bet that I find a way to heal it before you need to get yourself killed to cover it up.”

 

Without waiting for an answer, he prepped Loki for an injection and jabbed the syringe in his neck.

 

“Wha—”

“Don’t move… don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“Bruce, is that you?” Rogers asked on the line.

“Yeah, I put my work on hold for a few minutes to help you guys. How come I can’t see Tony on any of the screens?”

“He is at ‘Area-51’, Loki answered. He volunteered to fight over there.”

“… for real?”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Over the Nevada desert, a fleet of F-18 planes was already fighting with the enemy when Tony joined them, followed by a dozen new pilots.

 

“Hey guys! Backup’s here.”

 

One of the base’s men almost lost control of his plane, seeing Iron Man come in front of him. Tony saw it and stopped close to his windshield, waived his hand like a mascot, and flew to attack the mothership that was there.

 

“Come on, guys! You know how to get rid of these bastards. Let’s get this done quickly and maybe the boys at Area-51 will reward us with a tour of the facility.”

 

One of those soldiers laughed while shooting down a drone that aimed at Stark.

 

“Sorry, sir. We’d love to, but it’s classified.”

“Even if I know two aliens personally?”

“There are no aliens at Area-51, Mr Stark.”

 

Tony turned, opened his hand and zapped one of the dragon-like creatures, while two pilots finished it.

 

“ _Present company excluded, of course._ ”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Rogers was getting tired. After Tony had left, he was now leading the front attack on his own, while Hawkeye, hiding under or behind an F-15 would snipe the motherships. He had already taken down two, plus a dozen of jets.

 

Thor had his power and hammer to use to keep safe, but Steve was exposed, relying only on his talent.

 

“I’m really starting to feel like an old man now.”

“What are you talking about, sir?” a young Army officer asked, through the radio. “You are the best that’s out there.”

 

Steve laughed at the man’s admiring tone.

 

“You are too easily impressed, Corporal.”

 

A drone had come behind said corporal, who tried to get away from it. But the Chitauri were now aware of the F-15’s manoeuvres and the drone soon caught up with the poor man. The corporal’s jet started to malfunction because of the hits. Rogers turned, manoeuvred some spiral, passed on his side between two jets and destroyed the nuisance.

 

And he made it look easy.

 

“See what I meant?” the corporal said before pulling the cord of his ejection seat.

“Ugh… I guess that means I can’t take a break.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Thor had defeated half of the fleet on his own and now was about to create a new electromagnetic storm, when Hawkeye fell out of the sky, his suit out of control. The Asgardian ran, twirling Mjölnir to use his storm to break the man’s fall.

 

“Oof! Thanks, man… Tony forgot to mention it was his newest prototype. I think some functions haven’t been tested, yet.”

“Perhaps you should use one of the Army vessels to transport you. It would be safer. You can use their weapons, can you not?”

“Of course, but it’s not as precise. I have another idea, though. See this mothership over there? I think you and I could take it down. With those you’ve brought down back here and the ones we destroyed, it would trap all the little ones over the ocean and then we can pick them up one by one.”

“I shall initiate the attack, then. Where will you hit?”

“I think Steve has given me an opening to their belly. I haven’t hit there yet, so they won’t see me coming.”

“Marvelous! I shall clear the way for you.”

 

And he ran to the ship, swinging his hammer, using the storm to make himself fly. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Uh, oh!” Bruce said.

“What?” Natasha asked, in the middle of a call.

 

On the couch between them, Loki was shivering, staring at the wall, as the medicine was taking effect. His melting skin had begun to slow down and would stop before covering his face.

 

“I think Thor just decided to take out the last mothership on his own.”

“… no…” Loki had a bad feeling. He rummaged through the objects on the table and grabbed the microphone he had put away. “Thor… what are you… doing?”

“Do not worry, brother. I know what I am doing.”

“You _never_ do. You need a strategy, a plan, you cannot just jump in like this.”

 

He was growing in panic – was it due to the medicine or fear? – and Bruce had to hold him back.

 

“Calm down, he whispered. You’re going to bust a nerve or something.”

“You cannot… rush in alone, Loki insisted in telling Thor. You need someone to have your back.”

“I have you”, Thor answered, trusting.

“Thor… please…” His voice was too weak now to reach his brother and he just dropped the microphone with a groan. “What an idiot.”

 

Bruce and Natasha forced him to lie down and held him until he no longer resisted. They rested his head on a pillow so he could still see the screens and returned to work.

 

“I’m sure he’ll be all right, Bruce reassured him. He’s harder than that to break, remember?”

 

To prove it, Thor was now flying in a tornado, on his way to the ship, about to clash with it. The aliens had seen him and dispatched a fleet of small jets to shoot him down. That gave Steve a bit of a rest and the opportunity to counter-attack from behind the fleet.

 

Thor gained altitude and was about to reach the ship when one of the drones hit him. He fell and landed on another jet, Mjölnir in hand. One single hit from it and the attack jet was no more. As it fell, Thor jumped to another and climbed his way to the mothership, wrecking one passing jet at a time. Behind him, Steve led his own fleet to attack the drones from the other side, opening a way for both Thor and Hawkeye.

 

The Asgardian proceeded with his ascension and eventually got close enough to resume his flying storm. He bolted, like from a catapult, and gave the ship his biggest hammer hit.

 

In the few seconds that followed, it was as if the ship had stopped moving. The hit had frozen all of their manoeuvres, just like Loki’s device earlier, and it floated there, helpless and waiting to be brought down. The explosive arrow Hawkeye threw into the carcass finished it properly and the thing exploded from the belly to the top, Thor still on it.

 

 

Loki sprung from the couch like a demon from hell and almost fell down.

 

“No!… No… no, no, no, no, no… Jarvis, locate my brother!”

“ _I am trying, however, with the heat of the explosion, it will take some time before_ —”

“Just find him!... Why didn’t you jump? Why did you have to stay on this ship? It was stopped, you fool, you could have jumped.”

 

Bruce sat him back down, while explaining to Martens that they had destroyed their fifth mothership with, so far, no casualties. Lots of wounded, but no confirmed death on their side. He’d wait for proof before saying Thor had died, because he didn’t believe it.

 

The satellite showed Hawkeye, sitting on top of an F-15 wing; Rogers was finishing off the jets who were now caught, with no mothership to control them… but nothing of Thor.

 

Suddenly, something caught their eye. Mjölnir was there on the ground, alone. Jarvis zoomed the satellite on it and then searched the area around it to find a heat signature matching the Asgardian’s… But then, Mjölnir moved, jiggled and flew into the air to land in a hand coming out of the debris. One hit of the hammer and the debris flew away to reveal Thor, covered with dirt but alive and well.

 

“The son of a bitch!” Bruce laughed. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

An hour later, they were already cleaning up the mess of the battle. Those who could still fight were dispatched to other towns to help but, all around the world, most of the fight was nearing the end.

 

Now was the time to clean up and rebuild. Soldiers gathered whatever remained of the enemy’s weapons and technology to be sent to various research and development facilities; civilians cleaned up the mess around their houses and shops; neighbours helped each other and everyone was ready to get back to their lives.

 

“I cannot believe how resilient you are, Thor told Steve as they were giving a hand. When it is over, it is like it never happened.”

“I’m amazed myself, the captain answered. I missed so many years of change in this world and yet, once I returned to it, it was like I had never left. We constantly evolve, but I’m not sure we really change. In a week from now, all of this will be just a bad dream.”

 

As they helped loading the wreckage into Army trucks, they passed soldiers who looked at them with awe.

 

“Captain Rogers”, one of them simply said.

 

And they all came to attention and saluted their hero, the Avenger who was also one of them.

 

“Maybe it won’t all be a bad dream”, Thor chuckled as Steve saluted back at them. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Ah, come on! I even got a whole one for you to study.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t let you in.”

 

The airman could barely keep serious since the situation was so funny. Alien wreckage everywhere, Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit, a dead alien behind him and demanding to enter Area-51 since he’d helped keeping the base safe. But they couldn’t let him in, even with the Chitauri as a bribe.

 

“I’m really sorry, sir. I have to follow orders if I want to keep my job. The day they change their minds, I’ll give you the tour myself.”

“Fine, fine… but I’m keeping the alien.”

 

The man burst in laughter at Tony’s funny remark and waved goodbye when Iron Man flew back home, holding the dead Chitauri by a foot. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The rest of the night was quick and uneventful. People were just too tired for any more drama and the cleaning up took much of their remaining energy.

 

Inside Tony Stark’s house, Loki had fallen asleep on the couch, under Jarvis’ vigilant eye. The skin on his neck had returned to its Asgardian colour but his right hand was still Jotun blue. As he turned in his sleep, he felt something move on the couch and woke up.

 

“What?”

“It’s only me, brother.”

 

Thor was sitting on the couch, by Loki’s head, reading a page of the database Tony had transferred on the televisions. They were alone.

 

“Where are all your friends?” Loki asked.

“Out, helping with the cleaning up. I was doing that, but Dr Banner and Miss Romanoff insisted on trading places with me. They were restless. So, now, I’m keeping an eye on you.”

“Jarvis is there for that. You should return home and work on the defence, in case they plan their second offensive today.”

“I have already gone home to warn Father. I did that as soon as the battle was over. Everyone is ready. Fandral and Volstagg have led a team to the Chittauri world while we were fighting and made sure there wouldn’t be a third wave of attack. We’re all ready for the second one and I had an idea I shall tell you about later.” Loki looked surprised. “Yes, I too can make clever plans. Once the second offensive is thwarted, I’ll tell you what my good idea was. In the meantime, I had to tell Father everything, including your precious help.”

“—…”

“—I know, it will not change much, his mind is already set. But Mother loved to hear it.”

“Mother…” he sighed, half in sadness and half in disgust. Could he ever call her that again after all that had happened?

 

Loki lied back down on the couch to rest, hiding his blue hand in the process. With Thor still here, it would get tricky to hide it from him.

 

“You should have told me about this”, Thor said.

 

Loki pretended not to understand.

 

“Your hand… it’s turning to its Jotun colour.”

“It looks more dramatic than it really is.”

 

But Thor wasn’t convinced; he knew something was going on that Loki wouldn’t speak of. As he was going to answer to it, his brother spoke again.

 

“Of all the moments you worry about me, this need not be one.”

“I shall have your word for it.”

“You have it. This,” he showed his blue hand, “will not be my undoing.”

 

Thor did not insist. In a way, he knew Loki was telling the truth… at least some version of it. And he knew he would not let this kill him… The Asgardian decided instead to lighten the atmosphere.

 

“I have been told you were worried about me, while I was taking on the last mothership… that you even panicked.”

“What… I did _not_ do that”, Loki denied.

“Dr Banner even had to calm you down, Thor continued with a smile. You thought I would die and it… frightened you.”

“Oh, shut up!”

 

Thor burst in laughter and, after a few seconds, his brother joined him. With no witnesses except Jarvis, the God of Thunder held out his arm and grabbed Loki in a hug. The God of Mischief did not answer it, but didn’t push him away either.

 

When all the Avengers returned, they found them on the couch, eating the rest of the now cold pizza, like two normal brothers on movie night. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters_

 

“There’s no way to handle the aftermath of this.”

 

They were in the conference room, Fury, Hill, Martens, Selvig, in videoconference with heads of worldwide military forces.

 

“Last time this happened, a Chinese general said, you deliberately withheld all the information from the rest of us. We were unable to communicate with your military because they were in dark as well, like you say.”

“We had to keep everyone in the dark, General, Fury insisted. No one knew how to deal with the situation when Thor landed in the middle of the desert. Until we were sure of what we were dealing with, we couldn’t risk a worldwide panic.”

“And months later, other… aliens came to Earth and, this time, they were hostile. Had we been warned ahead, we could have—”

“What? You could have what? I had my best people dedicated to this and they barely came out alive.”

“We even lost one of those best ones”, Hill answered thinking of Coulson. “He was murdered in the middle of our secret base.”

“This was a case of two different people working as one, Fury said. They began giving each other trouble even before we could organise an attack on them. This time, one of their old allies was on our side.”

“Your side?” the Russian delegate asked.

“Earth’s side… all the intel we gave you, he’s the one who provided it. We could warn you this time because we actually _had_ a plan of attack.”

“This new ally who was enemy before… how did you know to trust him?”

“We didn’t, Hill answered. We still don’t trust him. He’s the one who killed one of our own, last time. But we verified the intel he gave us and it checked out. He has an agenda here, but he needed the Chitauri destroyed just like we did.”

“Seems like a risked alliance.”

“It worked, Fury said. Now we need to clean it all up and try to contain this the best we can. People need to believe we were always on top of this if we don’t want to have to deal with constant panic of a revenge from those people.”

“Do you think they will attack us again?”

“I’m even sure _this_ attack is over.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_Tony Stark’s house_

 

“What do you mean ‘it’s not over’?” Rogers asked.

“This was simply the first draw”, Loki explained. “They weakened you, put your world in chaos and, now that you are all too busy cleaning up and dealing with the aftermath, they will find an area to settle in and coordinate their attack on Asgard so that our two worlds fight each other.”

“Was that also part of your original plan?” Steve wondered. He had not heard the whole story after all.

 

Loki acquiesced silently.

 

“They will probably choose one of your secret military bases to settle, so they will be hidden from most of you. We will need to intercept their codes of communication to find it and stop them before they convert your people into their soldiers.”

“What do you suggest?” Thor asked.

“I shall attack them from the inside. I need to gain the Commander’s trust; easier than to convince the other being that will probably accompany him. They will have set defences around their command centre and you will need someone to turn them off. How you choose to attack once I have done that is none of my concern.”

“Still optimistic we can win, huh?” Tony asked, while fixing the two suits. “All right, we’ll figure out a plan. Captain, you have every military man in the country grovelling for you now. You could get a team in the air. Thor and I will back you up.”

“I can coordinate a strike, Steve answered. I’ll need a few good pilots. I’ll make a call.”

“We’ll take the ground level”, Clint said, pointing at himself and Natasha. “We’ll rendezvous with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s agents. You too, Doctor.”

“Yes… yes, of course”, Bruce answered, uncomfortably.

“Don’t worry, Natasha reassured him. We’ll make sure to control your damage.”

“Actually, Loki began, I have another idea.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters_

 

The agents were coming back to base, to give their reports and get some rest, after having spent the evening, night and morning after dealing with this almost global disaster. They would have to spend the rest of the week off to recover, but they didn’t have that luxury.

 

Agent Hill took off her hands-free phone device and groaned.

 

“Everything okay?” Fury asked.

“… yes, sir… I just… this whole thing is a nightmare. I really hope this is the end of it.”

“I don’t think it is. Loki warned us these bastards may settle in while we’re busy recovering.”

“I don’t care what he said.” She took a deep breath before saying something that would be out of place and corrected her statement. “I mean, he’s played games with us before. And when we found out what the game was about, it was already too late.”

“I haven’t forgotten Coulson, Fury answered, if that’s what you mean.”

 

She looked at him and let out half a smile.

 

“It’s not just because of him, but… yeah, I can’t help but fear he’s going to get people killed just to have his own personal revenge on these aliens. Killed or worse…”

“Worse?”

“Did you ever stop to wonder if what happened to Coulson wasn’t worse than death?”

“If you’re talking about my decision—”

“No, sir… You did what you had to do in this situation. Coulson was already stabbed. But what that… man did to him, he’ll never really recover, will he?”

 

Fury was about to answer when an agent ran into the room, a look of sheer terror on his face. Martens, who was in the corridor with Dr Selvig, followed into the office, expecting the worst.

 

“Sir, it’s the agents settled in backup base Delta.”

“What about them?”

“They sent a warning call. They had to land their base of operations earlier and regrouped at Delta during the fight. Well, that backup spot has been taken over by the Chitauri.”

“WHAT?”

“They sent the message but it was cut before they could tell us more.”

“Their backup base was even more top-secret than the regular base. How did these motherf—how did they know?”

“I don’t know, sir. I didn’t know of the plane or the base they’re at until ten minutes ago.”

“I know, Branson. We set some backup bases all over the country after Loki’s last visit, in case of another attack. Only agents of level 8 and up, Hill and I know about these bases.”

 

Agent Hill had listened from one ear while taking a call, then she burst.

 

“What do you mean, he’s gone?... No… you promised us he could not leave that house.”

“Now what?” Fury asked.

“Loki escaped… again.”


	3. Fragile Alliances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the fight. Thor is a badass, Loki demonstrates the expression "Balls of Steel" and the Hulk meets an old friend...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quotes... the battle ends with a Star Wars quote. I make no apologies for it :D
> 
> And like any Marvel, there's an after credits epilogue XD

Part III: Fragile Alliances

 

In the briefing room of backup base Delta, the Chitauri had set their command post. Their Commander was already viewing his plan with his generals, under the piercing eyes of the Other who had made the human communication system work. They all heard Fury’s voice.

 

“Stark, you slimy son of a bitch, you gave me your word this would never happen.”

“Sir, another agent said on the line, you’re live with all the bases.”

“O.K. everyone, this is Director Fury, I need you to reach all the outposts. One of our bases was taken by the enemy. Everyone needs to evacuate and regroup at the backup offices. Switch to emergency frequency once this message is received, they could be listening. I repeat: get the hell out of there!”

“Roger that, sir” two agents answered.

“One last thing: Loki escaped our custody. He’s on the loose, he’s deranged, devious, he has a hostage and he WILL try to attack us. I want him caught, dead or alive. Scratch that, I prefer dead.”

“Got it!”

“All right. Proceed with the evacuation and everyone meets back on the emergency frequency in half an hour. Over and out.”

 

Other agents answered that they understood the command and the line went dark again. The Commander looked at the Other with a victorious smile.

“Loki is here, just like you predicted. This is going to be interesting. They want him dead as much as you do.”

“Let us see who gets to him first”, the Other answered.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_Tony Stark’s house_

 

Tony hung up the phone and everybody else put out their hands-free devices. Loki was indeed gone and he had not left empty handed.

 

“Fury was quick to act”, Rogers commented.

“He’s like me in this way, Tony answered. Since Loki last visited, he made special measures specifically for him.”

“Well, I should meet up with the Army. Once you get an answer to where he is, we’ll be ready to strike.”

“We’ll go with you”, Clint said.

 

He and Natasha left, after a concerned look towards Thor.

 

“You should go too, buddy”, Tony told him. He’ll need you to back him up once those bastards figure out what’s going on. I’ll deal with Fury and try to make him spit the location of that Delta base.”

“He is outraged, it will not be easy. Perhaps you should have told him the whole plan.”

“Well, your brother and I have that in common. We both know how to drive people up the wall… and we kind of like it.”

 

Thor laughed and took a seat.

 

“I will remain here for a moment. We will not get our answer from the director, but from Loki through Jarvis.”

“… Why are you so confident he’ll deliver?”

“I remembered today, something he told me once… before our family was torn apart. I think that thing he said was one of the reasons I always hoped he could be a better man…”

“What was it?”

“He will kill you if he finds out I have told you.”

“I like a challenge.”

“heh… he said… ‘You are my brother and my friend. Sometimes, I envy you. But never doubt I love you’. If you ever repeat this, I will not protect you against his wrath.”

“Wow… that’s actually beautiful.”

“An hour after that, he was ruining my coronation ceremony by letting in some Frost Giants into Asgard to cause trouble.”

“Typical.”

 

They laughed, just as the interface bleeped and Jarvis opened the coded message.

 

“ _He has found them, sir_.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Delta backup base_

 

Loki opened the door of the tunnel leading to the base and pushed his tied-up hostage in. They walked in silence, side by side, waiting to be intercepted by the enemy… when Bruce broke the silence.

 

“You really shouldn’t have done that, he said. Escaping, I mean. If you’d just collaborated, you could have caught a deal… now they’re going to kill you, especially when they find what you did to me.”

 

He groaned in pain and lost his footing. Loki grabbed him by his shirt and held him back up violently to push him forward.

 

“Enough of your whining, human. Consider yourself fortunate I have allowed you to live this long.”

“Because you think your friends won’t kill me?”

“Only if they are fools, they will. You, Doctor, will help us win this battle.”

 

He pushed him to the other entrance, where the Chitauri that had been following them all along, intercepted them. Loki barely looked at them.

 

“Take us to your Commander, now!” he ordered, knowing that the creature in question was already aware of his presence.

 

“Don’t freak out, Bruce thought to himself. Don’t freak out until it’s time.”

 

 

The soldiers dragged them before the Commander in no time and he, furious, stared at them as if they were fools.

 

“I told you to lock this one up, should he come here. I insisted upon it, and you bring him to me?”

 

The two soldiers looked at each other blankly, not knowing what to answer and, between them, Loki smiled and Bruce could barely remain calm enough. The Commander understood but did not speak. Someone else entered the room and stared at them. The Other imposed such fear that the two soldiers already knew they would die by his hand.

 

“He played a mind trick on you, did he not?”

 

His voice stroke Bruce in the soul and he felt like someone was ripping it from his body. Loki felt the same, but kept his calm and laughed.

 

“I missed you as well”, he answered.

 

For only reaction, the Other jabbed his hand through one of the soldiers so hard, the poor creature shrieked and fell at his feet, dead. Bruce backed up a step, but Loki held him and forced him to stand close, like his puppet.

 

“I really don’t think you should blame them, Loki continued. They are just the unlucky targets I had to choose to get to you.”

“We heard you had escaped Asgard.” Loki looked surprised, the Other smiled. “You did not know I had spies there?”

“I did not. That is quite impressive. But, of course, since you are using my initial strategy and I myself had spies in your court, it would be safe to assume my nature is – how do they say it, here? – rubbing off on yours.”

“SILENCE!”

 

Bruce could see that even the Commander was keeping his distance from the Other… All these creatures from hell were afraid of him; even Loki lost his self-confidence for a second… but then he smiled again and addressed the Commander. Ignoring the Other was _not_ a good idea. Bruce thought of telling him that, but thought again. He knew Loki had a plan.

 

“I watched your diversion. It was very cunning and well organised.”

“I thought the humans had you locked up, the Other imposed himself. That is what their communicator said.”

“I made Anthony Stark offer me sanctuary. He was easy to convince.” He turned back to the Commander, ignoring the Other again. “You probably know who what is; Stark is the one who made your army worthless by vaporising your power source into nothingness—”

“What are you doing here?” The Commander was losing his calm with the Other lurking like this. He had to show he was in control of that conversation and that Loki would not manipulate him. “If it is to serve us again, I would rather watch you die slowly than accept that offer.”

“Serve you?” Loki had a shrug of disgust. “Do not be ridiculous. The last time we _allied_ our forces, you made things complicate themselves with such clumsy commanding… but this time will be much different.”

“How?”

“Because, my dear, you have finally decided to listen to me. You took my first plan and you put it into action. Now we can accomplish what we first came here to do.”

“You back-stabbing son of a bitch… Thor trusted you”, Bruce said more to himself than to make a statement.

“What is this?” the Commander asked.

“This? Oh, I almost forgot that I had brought you a gift. This man is Dr Banner, one of the smartest men this foolish world has to offer. He may look like nothing for now – my fault, I had to sedate him – but when the medicine wears off, you will see a formidable brute with immense powers of destruction.”

 

The Other walked to Bruce and stared at him, analysing him and trying to see if he truly were what Loki spoke of. That did not help the doctor feel better.

 

“That’s n- not a good thing, he said with a severe stutter. I- I swear, I- I have n… no way of controlling what I do when I’m in that… that form.”

“Aw, but you see, Loki laughed, that is precisely what you are here for. What better to destroy our enemy than the uncontrollable force of chaos that you are.”

 

The Other grabbed Bruce by the neck and stared directly in his eyes. Bruce began to panic; what if Loki’s plan he’d given them was just a ruse so he could resume his alliance with this monstrous being? The Other saw that doubt, that question in Bruce and had a smirk of victory. There was a lie somewhere in Loki’s statement.

 

“This… little weak human, a force of chaos. Of all the lies you have told us, Asgardian, this one is the most incredible.”

“Suit yourselves, Loki answered with indifference. You shall see, once the sedative wears off, that I was right… as usual.”

 

To punish Loki of his arrogance, the Other threw Bruce to the ground, wounding him, and ordered two soldiers to put him with the other prisoners. They dragged him out.

 

Behind the Other, Loki smiled. Everything was happening according to his plan. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The door opened and Bruce was thrown in the room like a vulgar bag of potatoes.

 

“Oof!”

 

The landing hurt him, but not as much as the man he landed on.

 

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m… Coulson?”

“Hello, Dr Banner!”

 

They stared at each other for a long time before Bruce came to his senses and looked around at all the other agents around him. The aliens had already found the perfect army to use against Asgard: a guy who was dead and an elite team of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives.

 

“Don’t take it wrong but… how the hell are you still alive?”

“That’s top secret, Doctor.”

“Well, I’m glad you are.” They shook hands. “I’m going to need your help.”

“With pleasure. By the way, thank you for avenging my death.”

“Yeah, I ended up breaking Loki’s spine… That’s someone who will not be happy to learn you survived.”

“Is it true what we heard? That’s he’s helping you guys this time?”

“Yeah, I think. He’s in the other room with the Commander and the creepy one now. He gave us a plan and we’ve all decided to give it a chance… I just hope he didn’t change his mind on the way and decides to switch sides again.”

“We’re going to have to give him a reason to stick with us.”

“He’ll stick with the strongest and… he brought me in the inside, didn’t he?”

 

All the agents looked at each other. A woman who looked like a civilian giggled. Bruce explained the plan to them and they listened closely. When the signal would come, they would be ready.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Loki did not wait for the Commander to return his attention on him and went to the table at the centre of the room. On it was a set of blueprints of this base, a machine that resembled the sceptre he once held, a few other weapons and a power source. He would have to get that thing destroyed to avoid it destroying him.

 

“Tell me, he said in a provocative tone, now that you have captured some of them, are you ready to convert them and send them to destroy Asgard?”

“This plan will not work, the Commander answered. Asgard knows we are going to attack. The surprise has failed. They will not fight against this world.”

“And you are responsible, the Other said. I know this is your work. You could not lead the operation this time so you have chosen to sabotage it.”

“Oh? But I escaped my cell. So, pray tell, how could I sabotage your attack if no one in Asgard would trust me enough to set me free?”

“You provided proof!” the Commander accused.

“How could I do that from my cell?”

“…”

“I believe you want me to be responsible, Commander, responsible for you own failure. I understand the reason behind this foolish attempt. However, as you do not have to like me, you have to work with me to succeed. Your friend already knows you are not clever enough to run this on your own, otherwise, he would have killed me already.” He kept ignoring the Other who stared at him, looking for a sign of a lie. So far, all he said was true. “We still can take on Asgard by using the second fleet you have coming. We will simply have them attack first and the converted agents from here will block their escape. Asgard does not know about the second fleet.”

“How do _you_ know?”

“I know, Commander, because it used to be my plan, remember? And I have just told you that I had spies among your kind. You truly are the sharpest one of your race, are you not?” He laughed. “You are too predictable to alter my plan.”

 

The Other approached Loki with a look saying he wanted to tear off his skin and crush his skull, but the Jotun stood his ground. With all this dialogue and provocation keeping them busy, they had not seen that the hand hiding in his pocket had activated the little ball device.

 

“We should go on with the plan. If there are other ‘accidents’, you will at least have me around to always find a solution. I suggest we prepare Banner for the conversion first. His sedation is about to end and, I promise, we will be pleased by the results.”

“I have another in mind.”

 

The Other wrapped his hand around Loki’s neck and reached for the staff. Loki struggled and began to panic, but the creature’s grasp was too strong for him. He tried to disappear, transfigure into something smaller, nothing worked. The Other’s power seemed to numb his own. That had been foreseen but he was not at all ready to become a mindless slave.

 

“Commander, a soldier said, we have lost control of our protective shield and this base’s system has stopped working as well. We are now vulnerable to an attack.”

 

The Commander looked at Loki, choking in the Other’s hand, smiling in victory. He was the one responsible, he wasn’t hiding his allegiance anymore. No matter what happened to him now, his revenge on the Chitauri would happen.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The moment Jarvis had succeeded in hacking the Chitauri defence system, people outside began their attack. Through the tunnels, Hawkeye and Black Widow burrowed their way into the fortress, killing one alien at a time.

 

“Don’t you dare say it’s like Budapest”, Clint screamed over his friend’s shots.

“Fine, she shouted back, it’s not… It’s like New York!”

 

He laughed and shot at an alien that aimed for her.

 

 

In the sky over the building, Captain America was once more fighting with the enemy’s aircraft… what remained of it. The Chitauri had been caught by surprise and he could easily take care of them with his Army buddies, leaving Thor and Iron Man to enter the building. Tony, followed by the second suit, entered by the East and Thor by the West aisle.

 

As soon as they heard the damage coming from the outside, the agents who were being held prisoner moved away from Bruce who finally let all the anger take over. Quickly, he grew stronger and bigger into the Hulk that had once defeated the God of Mischief on his own. Once the transformation was complete, that very Hulk smashed the room’s wall open and all the agents, led by Coulson, fought their way to the armoury, to gear up and defeat the invaders. All the civilian personnel were taken to a safe room and the Hulk led the level 7 agents to the command centre.

 

Inside the command centre, the Other looked down at the suffocating Jotun in his hand and frowned.

 

“Very well, then. I will not convert you… I have something even better in store.”

 

The Commander took over the entire control of the troops with pleasure so the Other could savour his revenge. Instead of getting the weapon that would have brainwashed Loki, he took another one that wasn’t Chitauri. It was his own weapon and Loki’s eyes widened with fear when he saw it; he had seen it been used before to punish traitors…

 

One simple touch of the weapon on his head and the convulsions began. Pain seared through his body and mind. He screamed. He was going to die, he knew it. The Other laughed and was about to hit him once more when the wall blew open – thanks to the Hulk – and Iron Man flew in, followed by the second suit.

 

He tried to stop the Commander, but soldiers got in the way and he ended up engaging them, as the Jarvis suit opened his hand and shot in the Other’s direction. The hit made Loki fall from his grasp.

 

“Jar…vis?”

“ _Hold on, Jarvis’ voice answered from the suit. It will soon be ov_ —”

 

The Commander shut him up by shooting down the suit, which fell inert to the ground.

 

“You son of a bitch, that’s a prototype!” Iron Man screamed, flying at the alien to get revenge.

 

To avoid his hugeness and his destructive nature from hurting his allies, the Hulk remained outside the room with some level 7 agents, fighting anything non-human that tried to get in. The Chitauri shot at him many times, but with little success. Coulson took a few of his people and fought his way out to clear the South wing of the building.

 

The Other grabbed Loki by his hair and touched him twice on the neck with that painful weapon, to make sure he’d be out of the game. When Loki fell back to the ground, screaming and convulsing, his Asgardian skin burning once more, the Other smiled and decided to deal with Iron Man himself. He did not notice Thor coming through the entrance on the West side, after having fought his way in alone. Mjölnir flew and shoved the weapon from the alien’s hand, before returning to its owner.

 

Thor saw his brother convulsing on the floor, out of breath. The blue skin had returned and was spreading to his face. He looked back at the monster that had done this to Loki. He would make him pay.

 

The two aliens jousted towards each other and Thor’s battle cry warned Tony to fly out of the way if he wanted to live. Him and the Commander ended up on both sides of the room – the Commander was by the entrance and ran out, but was thrown back in by a hit from the Hulk – as Thor took centre stage and hit the Other with his hammer.

 

Those two forces of the Universe struggled and Thor fell by the strength of his enemy. The Other turned, stopped Loki who had tried to attack him from behind, hit him again with the weapon and returned to Thor who had gotten back up. The staff clashed with Mjölnir and electrocuted both owners. Stronger than his brother, Thor got out of the way and hit again, but the Other cheated and threw the Commander in his way. The hammer killed the wretched soul in one hit and the diversion was enough for the Other to hit Thor with his weapon. Thor fell and screamed; with the next hit, he would receive a pain worse than lightening. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Outside, soldiers were getting more and scarcer. Rogers and his team rounded up the last of them and defeated them in a matter of minutes. On the ground, people applauded them, safely hidden behind armoured S.H.I.E.L.D. cars that protected the perimeter. Once they were done, Steve landed and walked out of the jet, with his Captain America shield, under a thunder of applause, to get inside the building. He met with Hawkeye and Black Widow, who had reached the ground level.

 

“All tunnels are clear”, Natasha said.

“So is the outside, Steve answered. How about the hostages?”

“They had 28 agents inside, Clint said. Jarvis sent a message that they had escaped with Bruce, just like Loki planned. These guys have the South wing under control.”

“Thor took the West one and Tony the East… They’re probably inside the command centre by now. We should take the North wing. Then the whole place will be clean.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Thor was still holding the staff back as hard as he could and the Other was giving all his strength to try and hit the Asgardian. He was going to win soon. The energy dispersed by both the staff and Mjölnir was so strong and wild, the Iron Man suit malfunctioned and Tony stepped out of it to avoid another near-death experience at the hands of the Chitauri. Out of the suit, he grabbed the nearest weapon and hid behind the table to see if he could shoot down the Other without harming Thor.

 

The energy gathered by the two weapons soon turned in the Other’s favour. Even Tony’s shot didn’t make him flinch and he lowered the staff towards Thor’s face. All he needed was to touch it; Thor would lose his strength and he would be able to finish him slowly, just like his brother.

 

“Asgardians… So used to being revered by these mortals, you foolishly believe you are gods.”

 

He grinned and lowered the staff more and…

 

… there was a groan of pain.

 

The Other tried to rise up and dropped the staff. Thor grabbed it and looked up, both weapons in his hands. Through the Other’s chest was a sword that looked made out of ice. Loki had morphed his hand into a blade, just like the Jotuns could do. He was behind the Other’s back, hanging on clumsily and staring back at him with his red eyes.

 

“That’s because we _are_ gods!”

 

Thor got out of the way just as the Other grabbed Loki and threw him across the room. His brother had not yet hit the ground that Thor hit the Other with his own convulsing weapon to numb him and then destroyed his head with his hammer. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It was now over. With the Other’s death, and the Commander gone too, all the others were soon defeated and the Avengers regrouped in the conference room where Tony called emergency evacuation and paramedics.

 

Thor, on his knees, was holding a now all-blue Loki in his arms. His brother was close to his last breaths.

 

“Do not worry, brother, Thor said through his tears. Help is on the way.”

“There… is no… need, Loki softly answered. I… I am too wounded.”

“I know… I know you want this, but you don’t have to die just to spare me the truth. I knew what their power did to you.”

 

Loki looked at Natasha who looked back at him with a sorry smile.

 

“Tony made Jarvis replay our conversation while you were asleep…”

“You… knew all along?”

 

Loki had a groan of pain and Thor held him closer.

 

“I know you think it makes you weak, he said, but I promise you it does not. You almost died and returning to life changed you. You got lost, not weak. Had I lived what you have, perhaps I would be broken too. You cannot think you have to die just because you are so hard to save.” His voice broke but he tried to be strong, to be a rock Loki could hold on to so he wouldn’t crumble. “I will save you, Loki. I _have_ to save you.”

 

He was in tears and shaking Loki to keep him awake. Loki looked at him with his red eyes filled with tears as well.

 

“ _You already did_.”

 

And he fell unconscious in the arms of his brother.

 

“Loki, no… Waken up. Please, brother…” Thor sobbed.

 

No one else dared to speak. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters_

_Two days after_

 

“You have no idea how long it will take? Last time, it took about a day for him to walk again.”

“Last time, he wasn’t that damaged, Director, Bruce answered. Now, he’s physically wounded, but he’s having an overdose too and he’s got a forced rehab ahead of him. It could take a week, or more.”

“He did risk his life for us, Natasha said. The least you could do is…”

“I’d still sleep better if he were somebody else’s problem, Fury’s voice answered. No offense.”

 

Thor was about to answer when he saw that his brother had opened his eyes. He looked at Loki with a relieved smile.

 

“There you are, brother.”

“…”

“Good, you’re awake, Bruce said by Thor’s side. I was wondering if we were doing the right thing to heal you… I’m afraid my knowledge of Jotun biology is limited.”

“Good thing he had your brother to help”, Steve said.

 

Loki looked around. He was in a hospital bed, with many wires coming from his head plugged on machines, surrounded by the Avengers… and Fury.

 

“… What did I miss?”

“We won!” Tony answered while doing something to his leg.

 

Loki realised his right leg was in a cast and Tony was signing it. His right arm, that had been a blade, was also held together by a bandage.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked with sincere curiosity.

“Earth tradition, the Iron Man answered. When a friend gets something broken, we sign his cast… a way of saying ‘get well soon’… It’s silly, I know.”

“I did not know we were friends.”

“ehh… you’re the brother of a friend, that’s a start. You’re still on trial, an ‘honorary friend’, I guess.”

“I’ll take it.” Suddenly, he remembered. “The Chitauri!... They have a second fleet coming, remember… Did you—”

“We took care of it, Thor explained. With your device, Jarvis recorded the whole conversation you had with the Commander, and the other one. We managed to warn Asgard in time. We used their plan… well, your plan, against them.”

“How?”

“Asgard attacked them, and their retreat was blocked by an unexpected ally. Do you remember the good idea I said I had?”

“Thor used your ball device while you were asleep, Steve explained. Before we went to the Delta base, I mean. He contacted Jotunheim and said their rightful king had been attacked by the Chitauri.”

“What?”

“It’s true”, Clint said, while signing the cast and lending the pen to Natasha. “Your blue friends did a little avenging of their own.”

“Of course, Thor explained, I had to promise them a new peace treaty… I’m hoping you can help me negotiate with them. They will also want to get to you about Laufey’s death and trying to destroy their world. You will have to give up your birth right to the Jotun throne to appease them… which is the main reason why they stepped into the fight, so you’d owe them that.”

 

Loki nodded slowly. If all he had wanted was a throne, he could have just taken that one. But Thor knew he couldn’t care less about that people and who governed them.

 

“I can’t believe you actually killed your own father”, Steve commented.

“Birth father”, Loki corrected.

“So the good news is, Fury interrupted, we won. We’ll keep you here until you can go home, so Dr Banner can fix you up. You know what will happen if you take advantage of that hospitality, right?”

“… something about my soul being dragged in hell, if I recall correctly.”

“You got it! I’ll keep my eye on you.”

 

And he left the room.

 

“Always so kind”, Loki teased.

“He’s just gloomy because we didn’t tell him your betrayal at Delta was fake until after it was over… But he lied to us about Coulson, so we’re even”, Bruce explained. Loki had a look of surprise. “He survived, but Fury faked his death to manipulate us so we’d fight you.”

“Really?” Loki laughed. “This human had earned my respect.”

“… I give up, Steve said. The man used us to destroy you and you just laugh?”

“I find it clever.”

“I find it sick.” Natasha handed him the pen. “Okay, sure. Why not? You’ve earned it, this time.”

 

Captain America signed the cast while Tony played with his smart phone.

 

“So, since you’re going to be here for a few days – give or take how well the rehab goes – and you can’t get out of here with that blue face without scaring a few people… I’m gonna go get us something to eat. There’s a great Thai place a few miles from here.”

“You’ll just fly there and back?” Natasha asked.

“And make a show of myself? No, I’m taking the Lamborghini… Oh, before I forget, do you mind if I keep the gadgets you brought me? I’d like to study how they work.”

 

Loki nodded with a smile.

 

“Consider them a gift for your hospitality… to you and Jarvis, of course. He deserves it.”

“Who better to share it with? He’s going to love them.”

 

He left the room and Bruce returned to the terminal that displayed the results of Loki’s E.E.G. The others went to get chairs and, once almost alone, Thor allowed himself to wrap his arm around Loki’s shoulder. The Jotun did not resist. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Epilogue

 

“Director Fury, can you guarantee this threat is under control this time?”

 

The man looked at the journalist. All cameras were on him but he still kept his cool. He had been prepared for this.

 

“There’s no way to guarantee these people won’t try to attack us again. What I can guarantee is that both times they came here, they lost. We may not have their technology but we have damn good people whose job is to keep us safe from these invasions. With each victory, we learn how to make the next one easier. We learn to plan, warn and coordinate responses to minimise civilian casualties. And we make new allies each time we make a new enemy. These advanced people, people we once perceived as gods, are now our friends. So, to answer your question, no, I cannot guarantee this attack will be the last one, but I can promise you one thing: every single time, we will give them one hell of a fight.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

After credits epilogue

 

Sitting on chairs, tables and desks around the hospital bed, the Avengers all ate in silence. Black Widow had her feet on Hawkeye’s legs and they shared a plate of spicy shrimps. Iron Man and a now human Hulk worked while eating and Captain America watched with a smirk, as Thor pretended not to notice Loki stealing a piece of curry beef from his bowl. 


End file.
